10/07/2003

Standing in front of his new three-room house and perspiring heavily in the mid-day sun, ‘Abdul’ told RI about the struggle of finding shelter for his family of six after the Israeli army demolished their home in the Khan Yunis refugee camp on December 14, 2001. Since that day, Abdul and his family moved from place to place, staying with relatives in Jabaliya, sometimes with his mother-in-law, two months with a friend in a room where there was no kitchen or bath, once with his brother, for a while in a tent provided by UNRWA, and then in a rented flat. Pulling the entire contents from his wallet (100 shekels, or about $23), Abdul said he is not even able to provide transportation for the family to move to the new location. And, despite the help that’s already been provided, he’s still a very long way from getting the refrigerator that he lost.