Since the October 7 attack, 1,400 Israelis and more than 10,000 Palestinians have died. The world’s cameras are glued to the bombing of Gaza. A few miles away, Palestinians in the West Bank are also victims of the conflict.
In her Instagram stories , her daily life no longer exists. The unbearable photos of the victims of Gaza and the prayers have replaced the sunsets over Nablus, her hometown. It is the only way for Selma*, a Palestinian woman in her thirties, to express to the world the anguish that this new reality has inflicted on her since October 7.
There is no one in the streets or in restaurants anymore
People don’t feel like going out anymore. Everyone is sad here, ” the young woman describes. “ There is nowhere you can feel safe in Palestine .” Fatalist, she sees this as just the beginning of a situation that is set to last. “ It’s a new life that we have to get used to. ”
I try to tell them no, that maybe tomorrow peace will return.
An educator in an after-school care center, Selma tries every day to saudi arabia phone number library protect the little ones from the weight of a context that is too anxiety-provoking for their age. ” As soon as they arrive, they talk about the dead babies they saw on television. They ask me if the same thing will happen to them ,” she says. ” I try to tell them no, that maybe tomorrow peace will return .” Her feverish voice betrays her: she herself has trouble believing it.
Nestled between the Ebal and Gerizim mountains
Nablus is regularly the scene of fighting between civilians and Israeli soldiers. Last February, an IDF incursion there left eleven dead. The funeral processions of the martyrs follow one another and are similar: a body too young to die, a revolted crowd. However, since the beginning of October, violent acts by Israeli soldiers and settlers have increased. this is just theory anyway Taking advantage of the world’s attention being focused on the besieged enclave, war is taking hold throughout the West Bank, in a more pernicious and less telegenic way.
While between January and August, more than 400 Palestinians ao lists were expelled from their land, the UN estimates that 820 have been forced to expropriate their land in the West Bank since October 7. The death toll has risen to 120, including 75 in the seven days following the Hamas attack, during what the international organization called the deadliest week in the region in 15 years. Since then, attacks have been a daily occurrence. In the village of Qusra, just 15 kilometers from Selma’s home, a funeral ceremony was attacked by Israeli settlers. Two more graves had to be dug, for a father and his son.
