Palestinians suffer flooded tents and debris as cold and rain lash Gaza
Palestinians struggle with flooding after heavy rain hits the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza City earlier this month
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, surrounded by tents and debris, are suffering through more winter rains after two years of Israeli bombardment destroyed much of the Strip.
A polar low-pressure system accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds swept across the Gaza Strip on Saturday. It is the third polar low to affect the Palestinian territory this winter, with a fourth low-pressure system forecast to hit the area starting on Monday, meteorologist Laith al-Allami told the Anadolu news agency.
Many families have been living in tents since late 2023, for most of the duration of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The enclave is imminently facing freezing temperatures, rain and strong winds, as the authorities warn the downpour could intensify into a full-blown storm.
So far in December, at least 15 people, including three babies, died from hypothermia following rains and plunging temperatures, with several buildings collapsing, according to the authorities in Gaza. Aid organisations have called for Israel to allow more shelters and other humanitarian aid into the territory.
Ibrahim Abu al-Reesh, head of field operations for the Civil Defence in the Gaza Port area, said that his teams responded to various distress calls as weather conditions got harsher in places where displaced people set up fragile tents.
“We worked hard to cover some of these damaged tents with plastic sheets after they were flooded by rainwater,” he told Al Jazeera.
Gaza storm kills Palestinian woman as Israeli curbs on aid compound misery
A displaced Palestinian woman adjusts the canvas of the family tent shelter as the region experiences rain and cold winter conditions, in Gaza City, on December 28
A Palestinian woman in Gaza has died as a winter storm threatens the lives of nearly 900,000 Palestinians living in tents across the devastated coastal enclave.
The 30-year-old, identified as Alaa Marwan Juha, died on Sunday when a wall collapsed onto her tent in the Remal neighbourhood to the west of Gaza City, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
The incident occurred amid heavy rain and strong winds that have battered the Gaza Strip since Saturday evening, flooding and blowing away thousands of tents sheltering the forcibly displaced Palestinians.
Al Jazeera Arabic, citing witnesses, reported that the partially destroyed wall gave way under the force of the wind, crashing down on the tent beside it. The wall collapse also injured several members of Juha’s family, the network reported.
