Diaries from Gaza: 'Under siege, even the most ordinary milestones of motherhood become a battlefield'

Noor al-Yacoubi is a 26-year-old translator and writer. She hasn't left the Gaza Strip since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, and has been sharing reflections on her life with L'Orient Today during the war.Mothers are often told that potty training requires patience, calmness and a good mood. But that advice doesn’t apply to a mother who has been living under genocide for more than 600 days. For someone like me, that kind of guidance simply doesn’t work. It fails entirely.The truth is, I haven’t had the space to feel calm in a very long time. I’m out of energy, out of patience, out of mood — all the time. In the news 'Children will start dying of thirst': UNICEF denounces 'man-made drought' in Gaza For nearly a month now, my daughter, Lya, and I have been struggling with potty training. It’s known to be one of the toughest...