Rainstorms uproot Gaza tents, leave children ‘freezing and hungry’
Displaced Palestinian child attempts to fix tents damaged by heavy winds during winter in Khan Younis, Gaza, December 2024
Ahmed Aziz and Mera Aladam report in Middle East Eye on 31 December 2024:
Rainstorms uprooted and flooded scores of displacement tents in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, worsening the already deteriorating living conditions for many Palestinians as a suffocating Israeli siege continues to bar the entry of makeshift shelters.
At least 100 tents were extensively damaged from the heavy rain overnight in Khan Younis, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.
“The situation is very difficult,” said Saed Lasta, a north Gaza resident who has been displaced over six times since the Israeli war on Gaza began in October last year.
“These tents can’t withstand the heat during summer, nor can they withstand the cold during winter, they do not protect from the rain,” Lasta told Middle East Eye. “Meanwhile, the strong winds can even pull apart the most durable tents,” he added, noting that these conditions put children and the elderly at further risk amid the difficulties of war and displacement.
“We send a message to the world to look at us with mercy, and just end this genocidal war and allow each person to go back to their home and feel comfortable in their area because we have suffered.”
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza, a search-and-rescue group, said they received hundreds of distressed calls from displaced Palestinians asking for help to save their children amid the flooding of tents and shelters. “We appeal to people of conscience to rush to save these families and help them move to suitable shelters that protect them from rainwater, especially the displaced in the camps in central Gaza City, Mawasi, Khan Yunis, Rafah and western Deir al-Balah,” the civil defence said in an a statement.
According to the Palestinian Government Communication Center, the majority of the 1.9 million displaced in Gaza living in shelters face “life-threatening conditions due to extreme cold and heavy rain”.
“To date, hypothermia has tragically claimed the lives of six newborns and a physician,” the media office said in its latest situation report.
Worn out tents
The effects of the harsh weather conditions on Palestinians in Gaza have been exacerbated by the lack of humanitarian aid, forced displacement and increasing food insecurity. Since the start of the war, Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, preventing the necessary amounts of food, water, electricity, medicine and tents.
UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that infants in Gaza are dying as a result of the cold weather and lack of shelter and basic necessities, such as blankets, mattresses and other winter supplies. “CeasefireNow + An immediate flow of much needed basic supplies including for #WINTER,” Lazzarini said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In another post, Lazzarini noted that at least 745 people were killed in Unrwa-led shelters and 2,200 were wounded since the war began. He urged the immediate facilitation of humanitarian access into the enclave, adding that Israel must lift “the siege on Gaza to bring in much needed humanitarian supplies including for winter”.