Youssef Shalha had been looking forward to buying his fiancee Bisan Badah flowers or a teddy bear on Valentine\u2019s Day but, separated from her by the war in Gaza, the only romantic gesture he can still send her is a loving voice message.Four months of Israel\u2019s air and land assault on Gaza has upended even the smallest aspects of life in the tiny Palestinian enclave, making nearly all its inhabitants homeless and unable to plan their futures.\u201cWe have nothing beautiful left. After the war where will we go?\u201d said Shalha, who planned to marry Badah, whose birthday also falls on Valentine\u2019s Day, in April.The couple had been planning visits to their families during the coming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, traditionally a period of celebration.\u201cThere\u2019s no one left to visit. All my relatives were targeted. Everything was hit by airstrikes. Everything was destroyed,\u201d he said.Now, living in a tent in Rafah, in the southernmost part of the Strip, after fleeing first his home in Beit Lahiya and then a shelter in Khan Younis as the Israeli offensive advanced, it is hard for him to arrange to see his fiancee, in a tent with her own family elsewhere in the city.They exchange voice messages when they can, but communications are very difficult in Rafah and Shalha has been unable to reach Badah for two days.\u201cI\u2019m waiting to be able to connect with her to give her this modest gift,\u201d he said, showing a shawl he had bought for Badah in place of the more elaborate presents he had wanted to give her before the conflict wrecked their plans.Israel\u2019s war in Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7 attack when Hamas fighters broke through border fences into southern Israel to kill around 1,200 people and take back 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.The Israeli assault on Gaza has now killed more than 28,000 people according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, with most of the enclave lying in rubble.\u201cValentine\u2019s Day is known for red roses and red hearts. But now red is the colour of blood. Everything you see is red: death and destruction\u2026 it makes our skin crawl,\u201d Shalha said.(Reuters)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Youssef Shalha is unable to buy his fiancee Bisan Badah flowers or a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day due to the war in Gaza. The war has made life in Gaza extremely difficult, leaving many homeless and unable to plan for the future. Shalha and Badah had planned to visit their families during Ramadan, but now have no one left to visit as their relatives were targeted and everything was destroyed. Shalha is currently living in a tent in Rafah and is struggling to communicate with Badah. He hopes to be able to give her a modest gift once they are able to connect. The war in Gaza was triggered by an attack by Hamas fighters, and has resulted in the deaths of over 28,000 people and widespread destruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[383,3,145,298,210,299,345,830,293,18],"class_list":["post-3007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-attack","tag-cyprus","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-health","tag-israel","tag-palestine","tag-valentines-day","tag-war","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n