Heavy rains flood dozens of shelter centers in Gaza

Gaza (Union)

Dozens of shelter centers housing tens of thousands of Palestinians in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip flooded, after rainwater mixed with sewage entered classrooms, tents, and residents’ homes.
In the northern Gaza Strip, several centers housing thousands of displaced people, in addition to homes and tents in Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia, were flooded due to the heavy rains that fell over the past hours and yesterday morning, according to the Palestinian News Agency.
She added that the shelter centers in Gaza City were flooded, as rainwater entered UNRWA schools, in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, the University Square area, the Asqoula area, and the Al-Zaytoun, Al-Shuja’iya, Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah neighborhoods.
In the center of the Gaza Strip, rainwater entered the shelter centers, which include a number of UNRWA and government schools, in addition to the flooding of the shelter centers in the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah. The majority of tents in the city of Rafah sank and were blown away as a result of the strong winds, as all the tents housed children.
The residents appealed to all international institutions, and the World Health Organization, to take urgent action to stop the war in the first place, and to provide shelters for them from the rain and the extreme cold, in light of their inability to return to their homes, most of which were demolished.
The war in the Gaza Strip entered its 100th day yesterday, despite international calls for a ceasefire in the conflict that has led to a major humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, who is visiting the coastal region, said: “The enormity of death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief in the past 100 days stains our common humanity.” He also stressed that an entire generation of Gazan children is suffering from “psychological trauma,” diseases continue to spread, and “famine” looms on the horizon.
Fears are increasing about the expansion of the conflict in the region. On the border with Lebanon in northern Israel, the Israeli army announced yesterday that it had opened fire on elements who entered its territory, killing four of these “fighters.”
Tens of thousands of residents were evacuated from the area on both sides of this border at the beginning of the conflict. Yesterday, the Israeli army continued its bombing of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Nima Al-Akhras, 80 years old, says that the bombing destroyed her house. She recounted: “We started screaming. I could no longer move. One of them took me out from under the rubble and put me on a cart.” The Israeli army announced that it bombed dozens of sites.
At Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, residents try to identify their loved ones lying on the ground. An Agence France-Presse journalist in Rafah said that communications were partially restored the day after the main Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel, announced an interruption in service. The company did not confirm the return of service, but said that an Israeli raid killed two of its employees in Khan Yunis while they were repairing the network.
The cold wave and rain falling in the area make daily life more difficult for the families camping in the courtyard of the Al-Nasr Medical Complex. Nabila Abu Zayed, 40, said regretfully: “But where do we go?”
United Nations estimates indicate that 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of the population, were forced to leave their homes. Many people seek refuge in Rafah or other areas in the south of this small area, while the local Ministry of Health reiterates that it does not have the infrastructure to accommodate them. The World Health Organization stated that less than half of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip are functioning, and only partially.