By Quds News Network
For the vast majority of civilians in Gaza, nighttime brings not rest, but horror—a relentless cycle of fear, pain, and uncertainty.
Nowhere feels safe. Not the remains of their homes, not the makeshift tents, not even the overcrowded displacement camps. As dusk falls over Gaza, people brace for what many describe as the most terrifying hours of the day.
“From 5 p.m. onwards, tank shelling intensifies,” local residents say. By 6 a.m., those who make it through the night wake to the deafening blasts of artillery, often unsure of where the missiles have landed—or who has survived.
Electricity has been cut for more than 18 months, leaving families into total darkness. There is no power, no light—only the sounds of drones, quadcopters, and bombardment.
“Night is like a nightmare,” says Ahmed Abu Saleh, a resident of Al-Maghazi camp. “It’s like we’re living inside a horror movie. Death is everywhere. Attacks, explosions, screams. People being burned alive. We hear it all.”
Before sleeping, Abu Saleh and his wife close the windows—not for privacy, but in fear. “We’re afraid a quadcopter might fly into our home,” he says. “We’ve seen them enter houses here in the camp, terrifying people even more, spying on us.”
His children, he adds, are haunted by the sound of drones. “They sleep next to me and their mother. They’re terrified. Night means bombs. Night means fear.”
Rania Abu Msameh shares a similar dread. “At night, we sleep not knowing whether we’ll wake up alive,” she says. “We all sleep in the same room. That way, we can hold each other, feel the same fear, and try to offer some comfort.”
“We wait for the morning,” she adds. “Because at least in the light, we can see where the strikes are happening. At night, we’re blind. We just hear the bombs, the Apache helicopters, the artillery shelling. The fire grows louder and closer.”
Daily life has narrowed to daylight hours. “We can’t move or do anything at night,” she says. “There’s no power, no safety. So we do everything while it’s still light. When the sun sets, we wait in the dark, helpless.”
For Gaza’s families, the night no longer offers rest—it only deepens the wounds of war.
20 April 2025
Source: countercurrents.org