Gaza“What we are going through because of the war is unimaginable,” says Salah Shahada, a young man in his twenties who suffers from severe muscle and joint pain, which he believes is due to the repeated displacement in the Gaza Strip, the harsh life in tents, and the daily burdens of providing water.
Al-Masry (20 years old) cannot imagine that as a young man he would suffer from such pain that has made it difficult for him to move. He told Al Jazeera Net, “What we are experiencing as a result of the war, from explosions, displacement and arrests, is causing us many diseases, and we as young men did not suffer from them before.”
This young man, who was displaced with his family from the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip and resides in a tent in the outskirts of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, underwent three sessions of treatment at the “Al-Baraka Center for Arab Medicine, Cupping and Massage” in order to “regain his health and well-being.”
In a tent at a shelter inside the Al-Aqsa University building in Mawasi, Khan Yunis, Salah was waiting his turn behind another young man who was suffering from severe back pain and had come on the advice of friends to undergo cupping.
Cases that baffled doctors
The therapist, Muhammad Al-Dasouqi, says, while placing the “air cups” on this young man’s back, that the majority of patients who come to the Arab medicine and cupping treatment tent suffer from the repercussions of the Israeli war on the Strip, and some of them have left doctors confused about diagnosing and treating their cases.
The main headquarters of Al-Barakah Center in the city of Rafah, in the far south of the Strip, was completely destroyed, as a result of being targeted by the occupation forces, which are continuing a large-scale ground military operation in the city for the fourth consecutive month.
The owner of the treatment center, Ibrahim Ajmaan, told Al Jazeera Net that he responded to calls from his clients and patients who asked to resume work after the displacement from Rafah to Khan Yunis, and he resorted to opening this tent and working with modest tools in order to alleviate the pain of the displaced.
For their part, the therapists Sarah and Iman Sheikh Al-Eid said that they deal with many women and children who complain of “fear,” anxiety, and back pain, due to the harsh life in the tents, and due to the difficult daily tasks such as carrying gallons of water for long distances, cooking over wood fires, kneading dough, and making bread.