Meet Mervat: A Mother Holding Four Daughters Through War and Displacement
Posted on 30 Dec 2025
Mervat Mahdi is 37 years old and from Sheikh Radwan in Gaza City. She now lives in an informal displacement site in Rafah, in a torn tent that she shares with her four daughters: Alma 17, Rama 15, Lara 12 and Lilian 8. Their survival has been her responsibility and resilience has been her only shelter.
The catastrophe in Gaza pushed Mervat and her children into more than twelve displacement movements. She recalls being rejected by family members who could no longer or would no longer host them, leaving them without protection or a place to sleep.“Every time we settled somewhere, we had to flee again.We slept in the street for two weeks.”Those two weeks were the darkest days of her life. The family slept against the wall of a bombed mosque at night and stayed in the street during the day.
“Alma used to go to the aid trucks to bring food. She’s only 17, but she’s the one keeping us alive. She also helps with translation online. She’s brilliant in English.”
The road to displacement was not only exhausting but violent and traumatic.
“We walked over the bodies of people who had just been killed. We were shot at. We heard screams, saw blood, saw death in front of our eyes.”
DRC’s Protection Program
DRC continues to provide case management, psychological first aid, and cash-for-protection support for vulnerable families, while expanding its protection team.
Key Findings
Families have been displaced an average of six times since 7 October 2023; some up to twelve times. Many return to damaged, service-poor neighborhoods or overcrowded sites.
Even during ceasefires, airstrikes persist. Staff have faced repeated displacement and personal loss.
Protection and MHPSS services are overstretched: caseworkers manage 20+ cases daily on 16-hour shifts, with only 30–40% of sector funding met.
In newly identified Mawasi Rafah sites (6,500 people), overcrowding and lack of privacy heighten GBV and psychosocial risks, especially for women and female-headed households.
In Gaza City, 65% of households report safety concerns accessing sanitation; 4% report open defecation (mostly children), highlighting WASH–protection linkages.
No functional referral system exists for MHPSS, worsening strain on frontline workers.
DRC Activities
Crisis counseling, case management, and Psychological First Aid.
Referrals to specialized and life-saving services.
Community-based protection through local partners and site committees.
MHPSS support for frontline workers and vulnerable groups.
Protection monitoring and evidence-based advocacy.
Today Mervat and her daughters live in a worn tent placed over sand and plastic. It offers little privacy, little safety and no security from weather or people.“Someone kind gave me this tent; it’s old and falling apart, but it’s better than nothing. We have no bathroom. We use a big bucket inside the tent. There’s no privacy. Anyone can enter. I can’t lock the door because there is no door.”
Because she is considered “abandoned not divorced” she appears outside eligibility lists and cannot access regular aid. The family relies entirely on charity.“My daughters haven’t been to school for two years. We have no money, no help, nothing. My youngest, Lilian, has lung atrophy. She faints often and gets no treatment. Every explosion makes her lose consciousness.”
Winter is their greatest fear.“When it rains, the tent collapses on our heads. Last winter, we woke up soaked and freezing. Winter for us is a nightmare.”She remembers the cold as painful and the rain as endless.“The cold was unbearable. The rain came through the tent. We had no blankets, no warm clothes. The girls cried all night. I tried to make a small fire, but the smoke made Lilian sick.”
She fears repeating the same conditions again.“I don’t know how we will survive this winter. I fear the rain, the cold, and the dogs that attack our tent at night. I want my daughters to sleep safely, to be warm, and to go back to school one day.”
Winterization response
Since November heavy rains caused severe flooding across displacement camps; thousands of tents were inundated or collapsed, destroying bedding and clothing just as winter started.
In November 2025, through ongoing coordination efforts, DRC also secured 160 new tents distributed on 17 November as part of the winterization response. These tents will support households severely affected by the recent winter storm, with priority given to the most vulnerable families currently exposed to harsh weather conditions. Additionally, DRC’s partner PARC plans to distribute additional 602 tents across five sites located along the seashore and in remote areas, targeting highly vulnerable households displaced from the north as well as families already living in coastal sites. In parallel, DRC partners have completed Winterization Response works in six sites in southern Mawasi, using sandbags to reduce flood risks and reinforcing slopes and low-lying areas to prevent water buildup.
People outside Gaza should know that we are not numbers. We are mothers and children trying to survive. Every night, I hold my daughters close and pray that we wake up alive.
/ Mervat
Even with trauma, insecurity and exclusion from formal support, Mervat still imagines a future where her daughters are safe, educated and able to dream.“I don’t dream of luxury. I want safety, a small room with a door that locks, and a school for my girls. I want to feel human again.”
Her voice softens when she thinks of what she wants the world to understand.“People outside Gaza should know that we are not numbers. We are mothers and children trying to survive. Every night, I hold my daughters close and pray that we wake up alive.”
Her experience reflects the reality of thousands of displaced women in Gaza who are raising children under extreme vulnerability without legal recognition, without shelter dignity and without access to services that could protect them.
