Thirty-six Palestinians evacuated from besieged Gaza cling to life in the Turkish capital Ankara. Staying in a guest house of the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay), they recall their lives in the Palestinian enclave shattered by constant Israeli attacks.
Eleven-year-old Alma Mohammad Abdullah is among the few lucky children who escaped from Israeli atrocities with injuries. Thousands like her have been killed by Israeli bombings since Oct. 7. As she recovers from injuries on her head and arms, Abdullah is missing her parents, slain by Israel. When asked what her future dreams are, she says she can only hope for the liberation of her country.
“If other countries have helped us like Türkiye, I would be free in my country. My parents would live. Nobody but Türkiye, Yemen and Egypt helped us. Some countries only sent us shrouds,” she says. “We needed more than that, we needed food and water.”
Her grandmother Javaher Nasr accompanied Alma to Türkiye after her daughter’s home was destroyed in an airstrike.
“I couldn’t even worry about my daughter, couldn’t shed a tear because I was occupied with my granddaughter’s health problems. She was rescued from that house with a deep fracture on her head. She could not be treated in Palestine and Türkiye came to our rescue,” she said.
“Nobody helped us amid this massacre but Türkiye reached out. They gave us a place here to stay. May Allah bless them,” she said. “This is what being a Muslim requires: to give a helping hand to people in need.” Javaher Nasr said despite all the challenges, Israel cannot “take Gaza.”
“I want the world to hear our voice. Palestine is very valuable for us. The world should not ignore our plight. We will not bow down (to Israel),” she said.
Dua Mutasim Muhammad Matar lost her infant who suffered from a tumor. “We had a happy life with my husband and two children before the war. Everything turned upside down after Israel’s attacks. Hospitals in Palestine couldn’t give adequate treatment to my baby because they were under Israel’s bombardment. I took him to Türkiye. They rescued us from this war. Türkiye is the first country to send aid to us. We are grateful,” she said. Her infant died in Türkiye despite surgery and after two weeks in intensive care. “I could not bury him in his homeland. His father and his siblings are in Palestine. I had to bury him alone in Ankara,” she said. Matar said she was looking forward to reuniting with her family and “an end to oppression.”
