Malak A Tantesh’s grim experience of living with perpetual fear and uncertainty amid Israel’s war after 2023 Hamas attack
I
t is six o’clock in the morning on Saturday 7 October 2023. Half awake, I call out in a hoarse voice to my two sisters who are sleeping on their beds next to me: “Enas, Remas, wake up – you have school.”
We were not to know it yet, but this was the day when everything would change. The day when horrific events across the border in Israel would lead to a war that became a gateway to hell itself.
I went back to sleep, not caring much whether my sisters woke up or not. My university classes started a little later at eight in the morning. Then suddenly came the sound of rockets firing. I could not tell if I was still dreaming.
