Gaza grandmother, 76, sleeps in truck bed as war nears fourth year

At 76, Mansoura lives in the back of a flat-bed truck. The metal frame is covered on two sides by tarpaulins and on the rear by a bedsheet. A thin mattress and a pillow with a yellow frilled cover lie on the tin floor. The summer heat and mosquitoes keep her awake until 2am. She sleeps only briefly, wakes early to pray, and waits for the call to dawn prayer. When she wakes, she calls her grandson to bring a white plastic chair so she can climb in and out of the truck. Her most precious possession is the key to the home she left behind. Her story is one of five told by the Guardian as the war in Gaza approaches its fourth year. Each account traces a single day in the life of an ordinary Palestinian, revealing the daily toll of the conflict.