Deir el-Balah, Gaza – In a tattered makeshift tent in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Basma al-Helou and her husband were preparing their morning tea. “We wouldn’t wish this life [in tents] on anyone, let alone our brothers in Lebanon,” the 74-year-old said, her voice filled with sorrow.“War is unbearable, and we have felt its horrors all year. I was devastated when Israel started bombing Lebanon.”
Her grief deepened, she said, upon hearing of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief who was killed on Friday night during a huge Israeli attack on southern Beirut. “I was heartbroken when I heard. Everyone around me, my neighbours – we all hoped it wasn’t true.”
As a Palestinian, al-Helou says she will never forget Nasrallah’s unwavering support for her people. “Nasrallah stood with us throughout his life, always defying Israel. I remember his speeches on TV. They were a source of strength. His loss is immense.
“We don’t know what they want to stop the war. They killed Ismail Haniyeh, they killed many leading figures.”
Now, she says, “We feel that we are alone in the face of a tyrannical war machine.”
Basma al-Helou and her husband live in a makeshift tent in Deir el-Balah. Of Nasrallah, she said: ‘His loss is immense’ [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
‘Nasrallah was with us’
Zaki Sheikh Khalil, 64, shared similar sentiments. “Nasrallah was with us when others abandoned us,” he said. “Anyone who stood by us, regardless of their nationality or religion, we will mourn their loss or death.”
He acknowledged that not everyone in the region feels t …
