Heavy rains and chilly winds in Gaza in a single day have worsened the distress of displaced Palestinian households pressured from their houses and now huddling in flimsy and flooded tents.
At a tent camp in Rafah, positioned on sandy terrain strewn with garbage, folks have been seen attempting to recuperate from a horrible evening, carrying buckets of sand to cowl puddles inside or round their tents, and hanging up soggy garments.
Some households have correct tents, however others are making do with tarpaulins or skinny, see-through plastic made to guard items, not present shelter to folks. Many tents had no groundsheets, so folks spent the evening huddling on moist sand.
‘No one cares’
Aziza al-Shabrawi tried in useless to get the rainwater out of her household’s tent, pointing to her two kids dwelling in such precarious circumstances.
“My son is sick because of the bitter cold and my daughter is barefoot. It’s like we are beggars,” mentioned the 38-year-old. “No one cares, and no one helps.”
Yasmin Mhani mentioned she awakened within the evening to search out her seven-month-old baby soaking moist. Her household of 5 are sharing a single blanket after their residence was destroyed by an Israeli air strike they usually misplaced one of many kids, in addition to all their possessions.
“Our house was destroyed, our child was martyred and I remain facing it all. This is the fifth place we have had to move to, fleeing from one place to another, with nothing but a T-shirt on,” she mentioned, hanging moist garments outdoors her tent.
Movies shared on social media confirmed folks wading via flooded streets as they carried relations killed within the Israeli bombardment and wrapped in white shrouds. The heavy rains and robust winds have made it tougher to bury the useless.
A Palestinian man holds the physique of Palestinian woman who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia regardless of the heavy rain. #Gazagenocide #Gaza pic.twitter.com/L4xrAJbAQ5
— Wafa Information Company – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) December 13, 2023
Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, mentioned the rainfall has sparked new challenges for a majority of Palestinians.
“It’s especially worrying for those who evacuated their houses and followed the orders of the Israeli occupation forces to flee to the south,” he mentioned.
“People here face a dramatic and deteriorating situation as they have moved from living in concrete houses to camps with tents that lack all kinds of basic needs.”
The Palestinians in Gaza have been fleeing south in tens of hundreds by any means vital – automobile, truck, horse-drawn cart, or on foot – turning Rafah right into a sea of tents and makeshift shelters of wooden and plastic sheeting.
The United Nations says folks fled south to face “catastrophic circumstances” with crowds ready for hours round distribution centres for meagre provides of water, meals and medical support, whereas illness runs rampant via the squalor, made worse by rain and flooding.
Rafah, subsequent to the border with Egypt, is the southernmost a part of the Gaza Strip, the place folks have been arriving in rising numbers to hunt refuge from intense combating between Israel and Hamas, now raging in each the north and south.
Lots of of tents have been erected in Rafah utilizing wooden and plastic sheets.
“We spent five days outdoors. And now the rain has flooded the tents,” mentioned one other displaced resident, Bilal al-Qassas.
“Where do we migrate to? Our dignity is gone. Where do women relieve themselves? There are no bathrooms,” mentioned the 41-year-old.
“We’ve started to long for martyrdom. We don’t want to eat or drink.”
The UN humanitarian company says individuals are in “desperate need of food, water, shelter, health, and protection”.
“Without enough latrines, open-air defecation is prevalent, increasing concerns of further spread of disease, particularly during rains and related flooding,” the UN’s OCHA mentioned in a press release.
Pushed to Egypt?
Inas, a 38-year-old mom of 5, mentioned she and her household had been pressured to flee 4 occasions for the reason that battle began – first from the at-Twam space in northern Gaza Metropolis to the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, then to Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, then to town of Khan Younis, and now to Rafah.
The household beforehand owned a five-floor home and a grocery store, which have been utterly destroyed, she mentioned.
“I hope the war ends and the Israeli occupation forces don’t invade Rafah on the ground. I am terrified of the possibility of displacement to Egypt,” she mentioned, voicing a typical worry amongst Palestinians in Gaza.
“That is our worst nightmare. Are they going to expand the ground war to Rafah? If that happens where should we go? To the sea or to Sinai?” she mentioned, referring to Egypt’s huge desert area simply south of Gaza and Israel.
“We urge the world to stop Israel. We don’t want to leave Gaza,” she mentioned.
Israel denies having any plans to push Palestinians into Sinai, whereas Egypt has mentioned it didn’t desire a mass arrival of individuals from Gaza.
Nevertheless, the Gaza-Egypt border fence has been breached previously, fuelling fears that an uncontrolled displacement may occur this time.
Israel’s bombardment on Gaza has killed greater than 18,000 folks, principally girls and kids, in response to Palestinian well being authorities, with hundreds extra feared buried in rubble.
Israel says 1,147 folks have been killed after Hamas fighters stormed throughout the border fence on October 7 and seized 240 captives, practically half of whom have been launched.
