The harsh reality of disabled people trying to survive war

For nearly seven kilometres, Rewaa Moeen had carried her six-year-old paralysed brother Ahmed on foot, fighting exhaustion and an intense fear that she and her family could be bombed at any moment before they reach southern Gaza.

But the long journey to "safety" has been made even more arduous by the rubble of flattened buildings for the hundreds of thousands of people who had been ordered by the Israeli military to move to the south of the blockaded strip.

Knowing that they could not take anything, Moeen's family did not risk taking Ahmed's wheelchair, fearing that he might be targeted.

"At the beginning of the war when many families evacuated their homes, we refused to evacuate and head to the south. Part of the reason was that moving my brother is not easy, he needs a special environment and a place to be able to do his daily activities easily," Moeen, 27, told Middle East Eye.

MEE reporter Maha Hussaini reports from the Gaza Strip on the experiences of disabled people during the conflict. 

Read more: The harsh reality of disabled people trying to survive war