Displaced Palestinians in Gaza fight against the winter cold
Displaced Palestinians in Gaza fight against the winter cold
barefoot in the mud and with an empty container in hand the Palestinian Alaa al-Shawish stands at a crowded water station in the central gaza . She is afraid of winter and is looking for clean water for her family. After massive Israeli bombing, her family was driven out of Gaza City and now lives in an improvised tent in Deir al-Balah. But her new home harbors life -threatening dangers.
shocking situations in winter
"We die in the cold, this is not a life - I pray every day that we die to be redeemed from this life," says Alaa and fights against her tears. "No food, no water, no life." In the past few days, several Palestinians, including at least five babies, have died due to the extreme cold. The UN Aid Work for Palestinians (Unrwa) warned on Tuesday that "more babies will die".
cold fat among children
The babies who an Month, as the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced. A two -year -old boy has also died of the cold in the past few days, said health officers.
"I watch my children die in front of my eyes," reports Yahya al-Batran, the father of the 20-day old Jumaa, who died on Sunday. "He died of the cold, he is frozen," he adds, while holding his child's lifeless body in the hospital.
The dangers of extreme cold
The cold not only demanded child life. On Friday, a carer was found dead in his tent in al-Mawasi, also due to the extreme cold. The temperatures in Gaza can drop to up to 10 degrees Celsius (50 ° F), accompanied by wind and rain.
flooded emergency shelters
Winter has also brought heavy rainfall with it that has flooded tents in the past few days in which displaced Palestinians have been housed. The GAZA civil protection authority stated that on Monday and Tuesday to have received hundreds of emergency calls from displaced Palestinian families whose tents were flooded in al-Mawasi, Rafah, Deir al-Balah and the central Gaza city.
On recordings of CNN, which were recorded in Deir al-Balah on Tuesday, water accumulations can be seen in the streets between the tents, while children and adults shovel the mud. Mattresses, carpets and clothing are soaked in the inner wet tents made of fabric and nylon.
Due to the heavy rains, more than 100 tents in Khan Younis were massively damaged, reported Unrwa on Tuesday. "The displaced persons who already live under the intolerable conditions of war are now also fighting against heavy rains," added Unrwa.
urgent need for relief goods
Unrwa asks Israel to enable the delivery of winter aid goods to Gaza. "Ceilings, mattresses and warm clothes await the permit outside of Gaza to be let in," noted Unrwa on Tuesday. "More and regular humanitarian aid has to get to Gaza so that people can stay warm this winter."
Chris Abu Amra is one of the civilians who suffer from the cold and the lack of relief goods in Gaza. He reports that his family “fights for their survival” in their provisional tent in Deir al-Balah. "We suffer from the rain, we were flooded," he says. "I have three children who freeze because of this weather. They need clothes, they need tents, adequate tents in which we can live."
For this report by CNN, Nadeen Ebrahim and Abeer Salman were.