In the densely populated Gaza Strip, a battle for space is pitting the living against the dead as homeless squatters settle in the area’s cemeteries while authorities grapple with the growing demand for new housing.
In the Sheikh Shaban cemetery, the area’s oldest, Kamilia Kuhail’s (pictured above) family live in a house built by her husband at the eastern edge of the site, covering the graves of two unknown people whose remains are now buried under the foundations.
“If the dead could talk, they would tell us, get out of here,” said Kuhail who has lived in the cemetery in downtown Gaza for 13 years with her husband and a family now numbering six children.
. Gaza City, Palestinian Territories. Reuters/Mohammed Salem
Khadija Kuhail, 30, holds her son, Mohanad Kuhail, 1, in the doorway of their family home at the Sheikh Shaban cemetery where they live in Gaza City.
Visitors have to climb down three steps to get into the sparsely furnished house where they encounter a strong smell Kuhail calls the “smell of death.”
Her children, who earn small amounts bringing water to funeral ceremonies, keep asking their parents when they will be able to move away from the cemetery.
“I sometimes get invited by friends from school, but I can’t invite them here, I am too shy to do that,” said 12-year-old daughter, Lamis.
. Gaza City, Palestinian Territories. Reuters/Mohammed Salem
The Sheikh Radwan cemetery is seen from above.
The pressure on space in the cemetery reflects the growing pressure on land in Gaza, a narrow patch between Egypt and Israel blockaded from both sides, which has faced a mounting demographic crisis for years. Its population is set to more than double within the next 30 years to 4.8 million and already land is running out.
Competition for scarce Gaza real estate is fierce, with ever rising demand both for housing and for farming land to help feed the growing population which needs 14,000 new housing units a year, according to deputy Housing Minister Naji Sarhan.
. Gaza City, Palestinian Territories. Reuters/Mohammed Salem
Mohammad Kuhail, his twin sister Yosra Kuhail, 7, and sisters Lama Kuhail, 9, and Lamis Kuhail, 12, make their way to school through the Sheikh Shaban cemetery where they live.
Even the dead are affected, their resting places pressured not just by squatters but by the relentless realities of a growing population with nowhere else to go.
“We face a dilemma finding land to build graves because of the reality of Gaza and its population growth,” said Mazen An-Najar, of Gaza’s Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs, which supervises 64 cemeteries in the enclave.
“The need gets bigger and bigger every year. We need construction and we need cemeteries and graves,” he said.
. Gaza City, Palestinian Territories. Reuters/Mohammed Salem
Kamilia hangs washing on a line in the Sheikh Shaban cemetery where she lives with her family.
COMPETITION
With so many competing demands, the need for more cemetery
space has fallen down the list of priorities, especially given the repeated wars that have damaged thousands of housing units.
Already the Waqf ministry has closed down 24 cemeteries which had reached capacity though many families continue to bury their dead in the old graveyards close to their homes.
. Gaza City, Palestinian Territories. Reuters/Mohammed Salem
The Kuhail family cook on a fire in the Sheikh Shaban cemetery where they live.
“It is prohibited to bury here and it is difficult to find a place but people don’t listen,” said Khaled Hejazi, a Waqf guard at Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza. “I try to stop them but I can’t.”
Najar said they have allocated new cemeteries in the other four cities of the territory, but must now immediately find a replacement for the largest cemetery located in northern Gaza city, home to around 750,000 people.
“It is about to be full, and maybe in three or four years we will not find land to use for burial,” he said.
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“It is about to be full, and maybe in three or four years we will not find land to use for burial,” he said.
(Picture Editing Kezia Levitas; Text Editing Alexandra Hudson; Layout Kezia Levitas)
