“Let’s write to Putin”: Russians from Gaza despair of evacuating

My friends in the Gaza Strip, with whom I can keep in touch, have long since moved to the south of the enclave, closer to the Rafah checkpoint, through which civilians will be able to leave Gaza. Russian woman Yulia with her daughters and 10-year-old granddaughter settled in the garage.

“We’ll hold on for now,” says Yulia. “But we don’t understand why Russians are still not on the evacuation lists.” The reason is not given to us. Is it possible for us to write to Putin’s reception? We would draw up a collective letter.

I asked my interlocutor to describe the situation in the enclave almost 4 weeks after the start of the military conflict.

“Every morning we walk in search of food,” Julia began. — Now the friend I live with has gone out to buy bread. She will have to wait in line for 5-6 hours. Water cannot always be found. Carts drawn by donkeys or horses sometimes drive along the streets and bring water. They say this water is drinkable, but I doubt it. It’s not very good quality. But we still drink. Health problems began. My granddaughter has diarrhea and is covered in some kind of pimples. I went to the pharmacy, which is a fair distance to get to, and bought antibiotic ointment. My daughter started getting constipated. I practically stopped sleeping at night. If something serious happens to them, we are unlikely to be admitted to the hospital, there are too many wounded there.

The humanitarian aid that is brought to the enclave does not reach everyone.

— To receive humanitarian assistance, you need to register and live, for example, in one of the UN refugee camps. They stopped enrolling people in one such camp when there were 20 thousand people there. There are no empty seats left, every square meter is occupied by mattresses. People built homemade tents from rags. People sit, stand, lie, sleep in turns. My friend and I went there several times. We met one of the bosses. He apparently realized that we were foreigners, and a couple of times he gave us cans of stew, gave us a couple of cans of tuna, some hygiene products, sanitary pads, toothbrushes, and wet wipes.

Yulia sends a photo near the refugee camp. There are cars parked on the side of the road and a lot of trash.

– There’s a lot of garbage. They take him out, but rarely,” the woman comments. — The unsanitary conditions in the enclave are terrible. There are a wild number of flies in the garage where we have been living for three weeks.

In another shot there are tents made of rags.

“Since there are no places in the UN camp, people are forced to live on the street,” continues Yulia. “People park a car near the wall of the camp, build devices on top, hang rags on them, and get a canopy.” This is how they live under a canopy between the wall and the car. Mattresses are laid on the ground. This morning I was leaving my garage, which is located in a residential building, and a couple of men were lying at the entrance to the entrance. So what to do? Somehow people adapt.

“There’s not much police at the moment.” What about the crime situation?

— So far I haven’t noticed anything bad. On the contrary, people help and support each other.

Julia took another photo from a spontaneous market. There are tomatoes and cucumbers on carts, boxes and hand-built tables.

– Where does such luxury come from? – I’m surprised.

— People sell what they grow nearby: cucumbers, tomatoes and tangerines. But food prices have risen and continue to rise. Tomatoes and cucumbers cost 3 shekels, a little less than a dollar. I was looking for pasta at the market. I found the last pack, there are no more of them anywhere. Half a kilo costs 4 shekels, exactly a dollar.

– How many more days can you survive in such conditions?

– I don’t know. During the siege of Leningrad, people held out for 872 days. We still have more favorable weather conditions. But I don’t know how favorable the heat is when there is no way to wash. But we won’t die from hypothermia.

According to the interlocutor, almost all the Russians with their families who signed up for evacuation, which is about 1,000 people, moved to the south of the enclave, closer to the checkpoint. “There are at most 10 people left in the north,” adds Yulia.

My second friend, Kristina, also doesn’t understand why Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are not on the evacuation list: “They don’t really explain anything to us. I recently called the consul, they told me that the lists will be published by the Egyptians, we need to keep an eye on when we appear there.”

I’m looking through these lists. They are named: citizens of which countries can currently count on evacuation.

Mexico – 2 people, Hungary – 20, Croatia – 23, South Korea – 5, Azerbaijan – 8, Greece – 24, Republic of Chad – 2, Bahrain – 4, Italy – 4, Macedonia – 4, Switzerland – 11, Sri Lanka – 17, the Netherlands – 20, Belgium – 50. The largest delegation is from the USA – 400 people.