The Associated Press
Oksana al-Astal has barely slept since the fighting began. Her parents, in their 80s, live in a small Ukrainian village where food and medicine are already running low. As soon as she gets home every day from working in her clinic, the gynecologist calls to see if they are still alive. “I witnessed the deaths of adults and children. I saw how homes were destroyed, how ambulances raced off, how bombs hit hospitals and what happens to people after that,” she said.
Other Palestinians have echoed the widespread concern for the suffering of Ukrainian civilians. A handful of families in Gaza have raised the Ukrainian flag over their homes, while others are flying Russian colors. Every time they visit Ukraine, including last summer, his father-in-law presents him with a new flag to ensure the colors don’t fade in the Gaza sun. Their three children have fond memories of that trip, and Oksana says they are now worried about the children they played with in Ukraine.