Living through the war in Gaza: An autoethnographic account of psychological, humanitarian, and physical suffering of Gaza’s inhabitants during the war in Gaza

Abstract

Introduction: This paper presents an autoethnography from a Gaza-based scholar who documents, in real time, the war’s effects on himself and his family. It situates a personal trajectory—bombardments, repeated displacement, injury, bereavement, and the collapse of essential services—within the broader humanitarian emergency, arguing that first-person evidence is indispensable to grasp lived experience and cumulative harm.

Materials and Methods: Using an autoethnographic case-study design, the author combines contemporaneous field notes, direct observations across hospitals and shelters, and family narratives with publicly available situational reports. Narrative analysis is applied to episodes of displacement, rescue and burial operations, access to health care, and day-to-day survival under siege, to derive thematic patterns of risk, harm, and adaptation.

Results: The account documents: (i) continuous exposure to airstrikes, artillery, and drones; (ii) direct physical harm to the author(tank-shell blast injury with persistent symptoms), (iii) family losses—the death of a son, a brother,and the disappearance and later recovery of his detained daughter—as well as the discovery and burial of his mother; (iv) health-system collapse (closures, staff shortages, lack of imaging and essentialmedicines) that intensified preventable morbidity and mortality; (v) repeated displacement through overcrowded shelters and hazardous checkpoints; and (vi) resource deprivation (famine conditions, unsafe water, disrupted transport). These stressors produced profound psychological distress, exhaustion, and functional impairment, exemplifying cumulative, multisystemic impacts on civilians.

Conclusions: Autoethnography provides granular evidence of civilian burden that aggregate statistics cannot capture. Lessons for readers and practitioners include: protect health facilities and corridors; prioritize family-centred psychosocial care after bereavement and detention; pair needs assessmentswith first-person testimonies to detect hidden harms; and design humanitarian responses that address cumulative risks (safety, nutrition, water, mobility, and continuity of care) rather than siloedneeds. The narrated events engage potential violations of international humanitarian and humanrights law; therefore, responses should pair humanitarian relief with accountability: independent investigations with evidence preservation and survivor protection; avenues to justice (domestic courts, universal jurisdiction, ICC where applicable); and reparations. The narrative underscores