Gaza - New York: Europe and the Arabs
In the Mawasi area of ​​Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, like many areas in Gaza, the displaced are struggling with the simple materials they have to fortify their canvas tents from the rain that has begun to fall with the approach of winter and the drop in temperatures, and their state of mind is that these tents are not safe in the face of winter and rain. According to the daily news bulletin of the United Nations, a copy of which we received this morning, Tuesday
Among these displaced people is Aya, who is eighteen years old and has been displaced with her family for more than a year. The UN News correspondent in Gaza met Aya, who said, "We have become afraid of any drop of rain because it affects us. Sometimes when we are sleeping in that tent that has become our home now, we wake up in the middle of the night, terrified that the rainwater will flood our tent and our clothes." Aya explained that in this situation, they do not sleep, but rather try to find shelter away from the rain, and all they feel is "fear", especially since these shelter tents are made of fabrics and blankets that do not protect against the cold of winter or rainwater.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the heavy rains in Gaza that fell on Sunday (November 24) caused floods in several locations where displaced people reside in Khan Yunis in the south and Gaza City in the north. The rains destroyed people's tents and belongings.
More than 450,000 people reside in 100 areas exposed to flooding in Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah and Rafah.
Muhammad Faraj Awda al-Haddad, who was displaced with his family of eight from Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City, fears what these rains and floods will bring to his family, as the tent that has sheltered him and his family since they were displaced to the Mawasi area of ​​Khan Yunis seven months ago has become worn out.
"These fabrics do not protect us from rain or cold, or anything. When some rain falls, I run to protect my children, and I do not know where to take them. There is no place to protect us from the rain," he said. The area to which Mohammed and his family were displaced had been previously displaced about 12 times.
Mohammed told a UN News correspondent in Gaza about his current situation: "We are now, as they say, sleeping on the ground and taking cover from the sky." He explained that the basic necessities of life are not available, and that there is no proper sanitation in the camp, "and our clothes and our children's clothes do not protect us from the cold of winter."
"We do not know where to sleep"
The rain, sea waves and tides due to the bad weather had a more severe impact on the displacement tents adjacent to the beach in the Deir al-Balah area in the central Gaza Strip. The sea water flooded parts of those tents and soaked the belongings of the displaced who no longer had anywhere else to go, as Mohammed Younis told our correspondent in Gaza. Mohammed was trying to save whatever he could inside his tent, where everything was wet. “The sea suddenly raged and flooded our tent.” Mohammed wondered what it would be like when autumn ends and winter officially arrives, adding with anger and sadness in his voice, “We don’t know where to sleep or how to find cover to protect us from the cold. Our children are now outside the tents. How can we live in such conditions, and where can we get our daily sustenance? There is nothing left now except for the sea to swallow us. We are finished. We have no place to sleep now. We have no choice but to go to the sea to sleep.” He complained that no one has cared for them since they were displaced to this place almost a year ago, “no food, no drink, no work.” The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it and its partners are conducting field visits to several areas to assess the effects of the rains and mobilize response efforts. Partners estimate that 1.6 million people are living in temporary shelters across Gaza.