People lining up for bread in Gaza City on 9th of January (Elena Qleibo)

On Thursday morning I received calls from Oxfam’s Jerusalem office and friends abroad and was told that there would be a “humanitarian corridor”, a kind of truce, which would take place between 1 pm and 4 pm. I tried to call Oxfam’s driver but phones within Gaza were not working. I got dressed and rushed down from my 11th floor apartment to the street to fetch a taxi.

After many days of being forced to stay indoors with limited resources people were timidly flooding the streets looking for open markets and fresh produce stands to stock up for the coming days.

I was actually in Gaza during the elections and a year later during the Hamas take over … there was a danger of been caught in cross-fire then, but the fight felt more “humane” and less “Star Wars”, with the F16’s, Apaches, and drones over our heads which are now a permanent fixture of everyday life.

The drone was still there in the sky but I assumed that the truce would be observed faithfully, so I tried to keep it outside my thoughts.

Friday was the second truce day, but the fighting did not completely come to a halt yesterday; we need it explained, as, like the first day, there are still not clear procedures. We are all hoping for a real truce today.

Yesterday I arranged for Oxfam’s car to come via Jerusalem. I picked up the director of MA’AN, a local NGO we work with in Gaza, and we were off to meet people, suppliers in order to evaluate the possibilities of food parcel distribution for the week to come.

We heard the UNRWA is halting food distribution temporarily due to the shooting of a driver on Thursday. The level of insecurity is very high; now even UNRWA drivers and schools are targets, if the IDF has security concerns.

We keep on with setting up the logistics for food delivery. Meeting former beneficiaries of our projects is what gets us so motivated. They speak about the situation, the fear, the despondency and the hunger. The lack of water, the disease and their lack of hope for an end to the violence … “They want to destroy us all… Where can we go?… We could just throw ourselves en masse in the sea?…”

Oxfam’s concern about the lack of safety during possible distribution of aid does not seem to concern the people here; security, as a shopkeeper told me yesterday, is a luxury Gazans cannot afford. As he finished this sentence at 3pm, we heard heavy bombing and the smell of petrol burning. The IDF had bombed a petrol station in the Salah Al Din Road and we could hear the ambulances rushing to the area…

Saturday, the third day of the so-called “humanitarian corridor”, is here. I wonder what surprises it will throw up.

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