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Flooding in Gaza result of ‘systematic obstruction of aid’, says Oxfam
Bushra Khalidi, policy lead of Oxfam in the occupied Palestinian territory, says Palestinians are “wading through sewage, mud and debris” due to the ongoing storm.
“This is not a failure of preparedness or capacity; it’s the direct result of the systematic obstruction of aid,” Khalidi said.
“The Israeli authorities continue to block the entry of basic shelter materials, fuel and water infrastructure, leaving people exposed to entirely preventable harm. When access is denied, storms become deadly. This suffering is being manufactured by policy, not weather,” she added.
Palestinians struggle to live under harsh conditions as cold weather damages tents amid Israeli attacks in Gaza City, Gaza, on December 12
Palestinians unsure where to move to after storm floods tents
We need to remember that Israel completely destroyed Gaza’s infrastructure over the past two years, which is why nearly all of Gaza’s streets are flooded despite the rain having stopped.
There is no way to take this water away in any way, and people in the tents have been literally drowning. Despite the fact that the rain stopped, everything is still very wet, their clothes, their tents, their blankets, if they have them, of course. Most Palestinians don’t know where to relocate, and that’s what’s been happening in the past two days.
“All our mattresses and clothes were soaked. We’ve been suffering from the war for two years, and just when a ceasefire is finally reached, the suffering of winter has befallen us as well,” Al Bahtiti told Al Jazeera.
Sarah Daoud Ghanem, 34, a mother of four, also shared with Al Jazeera a similar experience with the storm. “As you can see, the water reached halfway up the tent. It soaked the clothes and the bedding. We couldn’t even see if there is anything left. We are like a stray dog; we keep moving from one place to another,” she said.
We’re talking about a storm that hit the Gaza Strip. At least 14 Palestinians died from this storm, 13 buildings collapsed, and we’re talking about hundreds of other houses that are threatened to collapse at any minute.
Yesterday, we went to that neighbourhood, and this building collapsed, and we saw how fragile even the building, the stone, the ceiling, the brick, how fragile they are and threaten to fall at any minute.
