Tents flooded as rain worsens hardships of forcibly displaced Gazans

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
2 Jan 2024 14:28
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Powerful winds and intense rainfall in Gaza overnight on Tuesday heightened the suffering for displaced families, ripping and inundating fragile tents and leaving everyone shivering in the cold.

A Palestinian child forcibly displaced by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in a tent camp. (Al Mayadeen)

On the 88th day of the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that a tent camp for forcibly displaced Palestinians was flooded by rain during the early morning hours. Our correspondent depicted a dire situation amid the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Israeli military against the Palestinian population.

He stated that the rain caused hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people to endure a harsh and difficult night due to just one hour of rain. Thousands of families have been forcibly displaced due to the brutal Israeli airstrikes and ground invasion that indiscriminately targeted homes, and residential neighborhoods, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble.

كاميرا #الميادين تجول في مخيم للنازحين وسط قطاع #غزة 👇#فلسطين #طوفان_الأقصى pic.twitter.com/ypikis4tld
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) January 2, 2024

Living in a tent camp amid genocide

Our reporter highlighted that many children are still without winter clothing to shield them from the harsh cold. Most families were forced out of their homes without any personal possessions, particularly as they left during hotter weather, and the war has now extended into the present winter season. They are facing a shortage of essential requirements, and it's worth noting that certain families don't even possess the materials to build an improvised shelter.

In this context, one of the forcibly displaced Palestinians recalled his painstaking journey to find shelter for his family.

"At first, we left the Bureij camp after staying in schools, and during our approximately two-week stay in this camp, we consistently requested tents and blankets. Unfortunately, our pleas fell on deaf ears, and we were only supplied with fresh water, neglecting to provide any food," he told Al Mayadeen.

"Where can we turn to secure the necessities for me and my family to survive in this cold weather?" he questioned.

He also narrated a heartbreaking incident in which he went to a school to obtain mattresses, but the school became the target of Israeli airstrikes. Numerous Palestinians were massacred right before his eyes.

The forcibly displaced Palestinians conveyed to Al Mayadeen their frustration at being abandoned to grapple with both the humanitarian and natural crisis.

In short, the Gazans are presently suffering, and mere words fail to adequately capture the harsh reality they face outside their residences during the winter season, a consequence of displacement caused by the ongoing Israeli genocide.

Nowhere is safe in Gaza

UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma said in a post on X on Monday, "1.4 million people in Gaza sheltering in UNRWA facilities and many more in the vicinity, sleeping outside."

In the same context, Touma said on December 30, as quoted by BBC, that over 1.4 million people forcibly displaced by the Israeli aggression are currently residing in UNRWA facilities, primarily repurposed schools.

As the Israeli aggression persists, many have sought shelter anywhere available, including streets and overcrowded apartments housing up to 70 people, and those with financial means are renting rooms, she added.

Tragically, a significant number are forced to live in open spaces, parks, and even in their cars, as the quest for safety remains elusive due to the absence of secure zones in Gaza, as per Touma.

"Nowhere is safe in Gaza, not the north, not the middle, and not the south," Touma said.

It is worth noting that the Israeli bombardment and total blockade on Gaza have killed more than 22,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities, with thousands more feared buried under the rubble.