Displaced Palestinian families suffer as heavy rains flood Gaza tent camps

Palestinians telephone for amended tents and different supplies arsenic Israel maintains restrictions connected assistance to war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Displaced Palestinians are reeling aft dense rains flooded their tents successful makeshift displacement camps successful Gaza City, arsenic the United Nations warns that Israeli restrictions connected assistance person near hundreds of thousands of families without capable shelter.

Abdulrahman Asaliyah, a displaced Palestinian man, told Al Jazeera connected Friday that residents’ mattresses, apparel and different belongings were soaked successful the flooding.

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“We are calling for help, for caller tents that tin astatine slightest support radical from the wintertime cold,” helium said, explaining that astir 2 twelve radical had been moving for hours to get the h2o to drain from the area.

“This wintertime rainfall is simply a blessing from God, but determination are families who nary longer privation for it to fall, fearing for the lives of their children and their ain survival,” Asaliyah said.

Gaza’s civilian defence bureau said Friday’s flooding chiefly affected Palestinians successful the northbound of the Strip, wherever hundreds of thousands of radical person returned pursuing past month’s ceasefire agreement betwixt Israel and Hamas.

Flooding was besides reported successful cardinal Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, said the rescue agency, which urged the planetary assemblage to bash much to “address the suffering” of Palestinians whose homes were destroyed successful Israel’s two-year warfare connected the enclave.

“We impulse the swift transportation of homes, caravans, and tents to these displaced families to assistance alleviate their suffering, particularly arsenic we are astatine the opening of winter,” it said successful a statement.

While the October 10 ceasefire has allowed much assistance to get into the Gaza Strip, the UN and different humanitarian groups accidental Palestinians inactive deficiency capable food, medicine and different captious supplies, including shelter.

Aid groups moving to supply structure assistance successful the occupied Palestinian territory said successful aboriginal November that astir 260,000 Palestinian families, totalling astir 1.5 cardinal people, were susceptible arsenic the acold wintertime months approached.

The UN bureau for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said this week that it has capable structure supplies to assistance arsenic galore arsenic 1.3 cardinal Palestinians.

But UNRWA said Israel continues to artifact its efforts to bring assistance into Gaza contempt the ceasefire deal, which stipulated that humanitarian assistance indispensable beryllium delivered to Palestinians successful need.

“We person a precise abbreviated accidental to support families from the wintertime rains and cold,” Angelita Caredda, Middle East and North Africa manager astatine the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said successful a connection connected November 5.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah connected Friday, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Palestinians crossed Gaza person been voicing fears that this wintertime would beryllium peculiarly hard owed to the deficiency of harmless shelter.

“It lone rained for a mates of minutes – 30 minutes oregon truthful … [and] they were wholly flooded,” she said. “Their tents are precise fragile and worn-out; they person been utilizing them for the past 2 years.”

She added that astir Palestinians bash not person immoderate different options but to stay successful structure camps oregon overcrowded shelters, contempt the difficulties.

“We’re already seeing Palestinian children walking barefoot. They bash not person wintertime clothes. They bash not person blankets. And astatine the aforesaid time, the assistance that is coming successful … is being restricted,” Khoudary said.

Back successful Gaza City, different displaced Palestinian antheral affected by the dense rains, Abu Ghassan, said helium and his household “no longer person a mean life”.

“I’m lifting the mattresses truthful the children don’t get soaked,” helium told Al Jazeera. “But the small ones were already drenched here. We don’t adjacent person due tents.”