GAZA, (PIC)
The roads in the Gaza Strip are no longer just paths connecting cities and camps, but have turned into open arenas of danger. Between a crater left by a raid, a primitive cart pulled by a dilapidated vehicle, and a road lacking signs and lighting, Gazans now face another type of death; a silent death not caused by shells, but caused by the war of genocide with its comprehensive destruction that affected all details of life, even daily movement.
With the continuation of the Israeli aggression, the rate of traffic accidents rose remarkably, to add new burdens to the exhausted health sector, and claim lives whose owners were only looking for a means to transport them from one place to another.
An ordinary journey ended in disaster
The young man Mohammed Jalal did not expect that his journey from Gaza City to the Central Area would turn into one of the most painful moments of his life.
He said, “All I remember is that the cart veered suddenly before flipping on its side. We all fell onto the asphalt, and screaming filled the place, children, women, and men bleeding, and everyone trying to help each other.”
The accident occurred on the coastal Al-Rashid Street near the Netzarim area, but the tragedy did not stop at the moment of overturning, as the injured remained for nearly one hour waiting for someone to rescue them, in light of the absence of ambulances from the area, before passing vehicles took over transporting them to hospitals.
War destroyed roads and changed driving rules
The effects of the Israeli aggression were not limited to buildings and houses, but extended to the road network, which suffered widespread destruction, traffic signs disappeared, streets were damaged, and craters and cracks turned into a daily scene that threatens the lives of drivers and pedestrians.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, confirmed that the Gaza Strip has witnessed since the beginning of the war a worrying increase in traffic accidents, as a result of the major collapse in infrastructure, and the spread of vehicles unfit for driving, in addition to the high speeds resorted to by some drivers to cross dangerous areas.
Al-Uqlah: A necessary means carrying death
With the acute shortage of fuel and the destruction of large numbers of vehicles, primitive carts locally known as Al-Uqlah spread, to become the most used means of transport among citizens.
But these carts, which are pulled by cars or motorcycles, lack the simplest safety standards, and it is enough to pass over a crater or a bump for them to overturn or detach from the vehicle, especially with the overload that has become a familiar scene in the streets of the Strip.
In many cases, a single accident turns into the injury of dozens of people, due to the crowding of passengers inside a narrow space that does not provide any protection.
A transport sector collapsing under the weight of war
The war of genocide did not only destroy roads, but struck the entire transport system, as according to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, about 70% of vehicles were destroyed, while nearly 80% of roads and infrastructure were damaged, which led to a suffocating transportation crisis, a major rise in transport fares, and citizens being forced to use unsafe means of transport.
At the same time, the presence of traffic police declined after their headquarters were targeted and the martyrdom of large numbers of their members, which weakened control, and allowed the spread of haphazard driving, unlicensed vehicles, and unqualified drivers.
Driver Khaled Abu Warda describes driving in Gaza as having become a daily test of survival. He said, “The danger is no longer from the vehicles only, but from the road itself. Craters are everywhere, overcrowding is severe, pedestrians cross the street suddenly, and controlling the car has become harder than ever before.”
He added that many vehicles operate despite their mechanical failures, due to the unavailability of spare parts, while drivers are forced to load large numbers of passengers to compensate for the high operating costs.
He warned that the towed carts may overturn at any moment, or detach from the car as a result of continuous vibration, especially with the poor quality of roads and heavy loads.
Darkness increases road danger
With the onset of night, risks double, as the occupation army destroyed lighting poles, while the electricity outage made most of Gaza streets plunge into darkness, at a time when many vehicles suffer from broken lights due to lack of maintenance and spare parts.
This reality makes discovering craters or seeing pedestrians in a timely manner extremely difficult, which raises the probability of accidents occurring.
Between need and exploitation
For his part, citizen Ahmed Bakir believes that part of the problem is due to some drivers who exploit people’s need to move.
He said, “Sometimes the car looks as if it is loaded with humans from all sides. Passengers inside the car, others in the cart, and some sitting on the iron structure or on top of the vehicle body, all for the sake of transporting the largest possible number of passengers.”
He added that the absence of traffic control encouraged some drivers to ignore safety measures, at a time when transportation fares remain high despite the decline in fuel prices compared to previous periods.
In Gaza, shells alone no longer threaten people’s lives, as the road that a citizen takes to reach his work, visit his relatives, or search for the needs of his family, may also be a road of no return.
With the continuation of the war of genocide, the erosion of infrastructure, and the absence of real solutions to the transport crisis, daily movement remains an adventure fraught with risks, while traffic accidents continue to claim more victims, to add a new chapter of suffering experienced by the residents of the Strip.