"At the time, I thought I had the day off and could hang out with my friends," says the 18-yearold. "Little did I know, everything was about to change."
Two weeks later, Shahtout's family home in Tel al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in the south of Gaza City, was bombed in an Istaeli airstrike. "We had only 10 minutes to evacuate," she recalls. "I grabbed my laptop, charger and as many books as I could fit into my bag." Shahtout, a high-achieving student, had plans to study information and communications technology and business at al-Azhar University. "But the following month, the IDF destroyed that too," she says.
The family evacuated to Khan Younis but the bombs followed. Over the next few months, they moved from one tent to the next, fled one city to the next, until they realised there was no safe place left in the Gaza Strip. After selling everything they owned to pay for their passage out, the family crossed into Egypt in March, like about 100,000 other Palestinians who have been able to get out of Gaza since the start of the conflict.
"I don't like it here, I miss my friends and I want to go home," says Shahtout, sitting cross-legged on a worn blue rug in the one-bedroom apartment shared by two families. "I am stuck in this one room all day, where there is no space or privacy," she adds. "I want to study and complete my degree but life has come to a standstill."
The small living room serves as a bedroom for Shahtout, her parents and two brothers, with two large sofas, a table and a battered mattress leaning against one of the walls; Shahtout's school books are piled in one corner.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 25, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 25, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Prendergast plays hero in Ireland's historic triumph
Ireland secured their first Twenty20 win against England yesterday, completing a record run chase off the penultimate ball after Mady Villiers attempted to force a run-out, missed the stumps and allowed the two Irish batters to run an overthrow.
British hopes end with double defeat to Canada
Dan Evans and Jack Draper fall to straight-sets losses in front of record home crowd.
Set-piece killer Jover part of mania for detail that separates the Gunners from Tottenham
Yes, well, of course that was going to happen. Ange Postecoglou has a particular manner on the touchline, a way of standing in the same spot for long periods of time, fists bunched in his pockets, a little hangdog and sad, like a long-suffering dad at sports day.
Explainer What the charges against City mean
As an independent commission prepares to assess the 115 charges, here is everything you need to know
Barnes' blast sinks stumbling Wolves as Howe calls for 'unity'
If there is a civil war raging in the background, it seems to be suiting Newcastle very well.
Piastri edges Baku battle as Norris closes on Verstappen
Engrossing and impossibly tense, Formula One might consider itself flattered if the final third of this season delivers with the same compelling drama as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
In the running Coe faces almighty fight to become IOC president - but write him off at your peril
While most Britons were demolishing the last of the Christmas turkey in 1979, Sebastian Coe ran 14.4 miles up the Derwent Valley, defying everything that nature and the elements dared to throw at him.
Airport expansion Operators hope plans will fly with pro-growth Labour
The younger, tormented minister considering his position before the Labour government granted Heathrow's third runway in 2009 might have been greatly relieved to know that, 15 years later, not a shovel would have touched the ground.
England's north-south gap in rents shrinks to 11-year low
The gap in rents paid by those in the north and south of England has closed to its lowest level in at least 11 years, figures show.
Fight drown as epic’ floods sweep central and eastern Europe
Eight people have drowned in Austria, Poland and Romania with four others reported missing in the Czech Republic as Storm Boris continues to lash central and eastern Europe, bringing torrential rain and floods that have forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.