Palestinians on Gaza's frontline want better life after pullout
AFP
Date: 08-20-05
KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip (AFP) - In the bullet-scarred ruins of Khan Yunis, the people of Gaza speak warily about their hopes for the future, desperate for peace and security after the departure of Israeli troops and settlers from their doorstep.
"These five years are the worst five years of my life," says 55-year-old Abu Ala'a, just 200 metres away from the giant grey walls of the Gush Katif settlement bloc and multiple gun outposts.
"There are no jobs. Many people have been killed. My house has been damaged."
Everywhere are pictures of the dead, almost all of them young men struck down in the course of the five-year Palestinian uprising. Some threw stones, others fired assault rifles or blew themselves up as suicide bombers.
Residents like Abu Ala'a in this southern Gaza city, home to around 250,000 people, found their houses on a war zone's frontline when the intifada erupted in September 2000. Now they hope for tangible improvements in their life.
Palestinian leaders and aid agencies are aware a failure to meet the expectations of Gaza's 1.3 million people could lead to further bloodshed.
Even as he celebrates the withdrawal, Abu Ala'a makes clear he is exhausted from the conflict.
"The situation was better 20 years ago. Now everything has changed drastically. The intifada was the first time, the Israelis used their tanks, helicopters and jets. It was very harsh."
Abu Ala'a had to move his seven-member family away al-Tufah checkpoint, where the Israeli army bulldozed and shelled homes, and has just moved them back to the shell-scarred building.
"I want the economy to improve. I want the Palestinian Authority to rebuild the houses that have been demolished by the Israelis. I want the freedom to move freely from Gaza to the West Bank to Egypt," he says.
Down the street, teenagers ride bikes and scamper close to the 20-foot cement blast walls, sealing off the Jewish settlement. A 14-year-old also named Ala'a says he just wants to go swimming. He hasn't gone to the sea in five years despite its proximity to Khan Yhunis.
"I want peace. I want a seaport. I want them to rebuild the schools, hospital and factories that have been destroyed," he says.
But Ala'a is far from optimistic.
"The fighting will start again in two to three years," he says.
In an alley, where children climb up a half-collapsed building and bang sticks to scare a stray dog, Umm Ahmed stands in front of her home, where a few years ago, her family had to escape out a small metal door in the back to escape a firefight.
Her nephew is in prison and two other nephews have been killed in the last five years.
"We need medical care for all those who were injured and all the thousands who have been imprisoned by Israel to be free," she says.
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