“We only packed our summer clothes because we thought we were only going to be gone for a short time,” says Basima. “We thought things would eventually calm down and we would be able to go back. But they never did.”

As she talks, her eldest child Malak shows off the summer dresses she brought from Syria. Basima has three daughters, including a newborn named Qamar, for the moon. “She is as beautiful as the moon,” says Basima. Together with her husband Mohamed and her in-laws, they live in Gaza.

When Basima’s family first fled Syria, they went to Egypt. There Mohamed and her father-in-law Omar tried to start a new business with the skills they brought from home. Mohamed used to paint handicrafts, and Omar ran a textile factory.

“Our residency in Egypt expired and we got deported. That’s how we found ourselves in Gaza,” says Omar. “Since then, we lost everything, and now we have become dependent on assistance.”

When they first arrived in Gaza, Omar tried again to make a living. With the little cash he had left, he opened up a small kiosk selling snacks and other convenience goods to beach-goers in Beit Lahiya. But less than a year later, the 2014 Gaza war broke out.

“After the 52 days of war, I went to check on the kiosk. Rodents had damaged it, and everything had been robbed.”