DUBAI: Hollywood actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has again drawn attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Taking to Instagram, the star shared a deeply moving letter from a 26-year-old woman, detailing the hardships faced by families living amid the conflict.
Jolie, known for her advocacy for refugees, posted photos of children and screenshots of the letter on her social media feed. The woman, who lost her father in an artillery attack, now lives in a tent with her paralyzed twin and family. Jolie wrote: “She told me what daily life is like for her, her family, and her neighbors. I wanted to share it. Their reality continues, even while our attention turns to other devastating events unfolding in the world.”
The letter paints a stark picture of life in Gaza: “In previous wars, we thought that loss or death was the hardest thing a person in this country could experience… But in this war we discovered that there is something worse than death … it is to keep living, but without a spirit, carrying a burden of suffering as heavy as the tons of broken concrete where our cities used to be.”
It goes on to describe the struggle for basic necessities — fetching water under extreme conditions, standing in lines for food from charity kitchens, and the absence of functioning schools.
“Many of the children have forgotten what a school looks like, or even how to hold pens or color in notebooks. Their dreams are restricted to getting a liter of water or a plate of food,” the letter reads.
The woman also highlights the health dangers from fires, toxic gases, broken hospitals and a lack of medicines, alongside electricity shortages and limited cooking fuel. Yet despite these hardships, she ends on a note of resilience: “People in Gaza are still forever striving to bring back the taste of life and happiness. They still hold on to hope that there will be a better and more beautiful future.”
