Displaced men in Gaza sit around a tangle of cables and extension cords plugged into a hospital power outlet in pursuit of the crucial but elusive goal of charging their phones.
During times of war in Gaza, a charged phone is a lifeline, as it helps in checking on loved ones after Israeli bombing, helps in knowing places where food and water may be available, in addition to providing lighting in tents after dark.
Muhammad Abu Sakhita, who fled with his family, which includes an infant, from the Beach refugee camp in northern Gaza to a tent in Rafah, said: “Today, the dream of Bani Adam is that he (the phone) is fully charged. It is very difficult, oh, to charge it 50-60 (percent),” The maximum limit is 70 (percent) because you will waste 3 or 4 hours.”
The area where phone charging is available outside the Emirati Hospital in Rafah is very popular because it is free. The hospital allows displaced people to connect cables to electricity sockets, which are fed either by solar panels or a generator when fuel is available.
Elsewhere, some families or small businesses with solar panels allow people to charge phones but often for a fee, something not everyone can afford.
Abu Sakhita said: “By God, they charge solar energy for money, but my financial situation is difficult, so I have to look for another alternative. I charge in a place like a hospital, like a free institution without paying money.”
Phones are not the only device that needs regular charging.
Muhammad Abu Taha, a barber in Rafah, said that he relies on solar panels in his family’s home to charge his electric razor after using it.
He said: “Out of every customer I sold to my nephew, he would charge me the machine, and I would have to tell the customer, meaning, if there is sun, I will work. There is no sun, we will not work. And if the machine goes out with me, I apologize to them because I cannot shave for them.”
A tailor in Rafah was able to overcome the problem of power outages by converting a disassembled child’s bicycle into a dynamo with a pedal to operate his sewing machine.
No place to charge
Most of the population has been displaced from northern Gaza, and severe shortages of food, water, electricity and medicine have led to a humanitarian catastrophe, according to the United Nations.
Charging the phone has become one of the challenges of daily life, as it takes a long and frustrating time, just like searching for bread or water.
Mahmoud Marouf, a displaced person from Jabalia in northern Gaza, who brought a battery similar to car batteries to the charging point at the Emirati Hospital, said: “We came here to charge the community, there is no effort.”
Besides phones, people bring such batteries to charge them so they can then power the devices they need in their tents.
Volunteers at the hospital organize a schedule that allows people to charge for a certain period of time.
The system helps avoid hassle by making valuable plugs accessible to as many people as possible, but demand is too high to satisfy everyone.
Marouf said that he needs to charge his battery to operate the medical devices for his children who suffer from respiratory diseases.
He added: “We have children who are on artificial respiration. We brought them a large battery to deliver it to because the hospitals are full and the situation is very difficult.”
Despite their boredom, they are lucky enough to find a place where they can charge their phones as much as possible.
Muhammad Al-Shamali, a displaced person from Gaza City, said: “We will come here to the Emirati Hospital to charge our mobile phones. The mobile phone will stay with you for a day or a day and a half at most. It will not sit for more than that.” For lighting only.
He added: “Communications are in place, there is no internet network. You try as hard as you can to see the road or the tent you are sitting in, nothing more or less.”