'You could say we escaped hell and it's still going on in there', mother says of fleeing Gaza

People rush to landing humanitarian aid packages dropped over the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas. Picture: AFP/Getty

Seven-year-old Samma Shammalan smiles as she remembers playing Lego with her cousins, her grin revealing gummy gaps where adult teeth have yet to appear.

“You could say that we escaped from hell and it’s still going on in there,” her mother Haneen says of their experience fleeing Gaza. Yet, the family wishes more than anything to go back.