Gaza Civil Defence warns displaced people to prepare for heavy rains

The Palestinian Civil Defence has issued urgent orders to residents in Gaza, calling on them to fortify and reinforce their tents, to protect themselves from heavy rains expected in the coming week.

"The meteorological forecast expects heavy rains to fall in Gaza, so we call upon our people in Gaza, especially the displaced in tents, shelters and damaged homes, to pay attention to fortifying their shelters to protect them from the effects and risks of rainwater," Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson of the civil defence, told The New Arab. 

"The siege of displaced citizens in what the Israeli occupation calls the 'humanitarian zone' in an area less than 11 per cent of the Gaza Strip exacerbates the suffering of the displaced and increases the spread of diseases and epidemics," he added, emphasising that children and the elderly are particularly at risk.

According to Basal, Israel's incessant bombing of the Strip over one year of continued war on the enclave has left it with destroyed infrastructure and land that cannot withstand the extreme weather. He explained that without proper shelter, the heavy rains and lack of drainage could further threaten the lives and safety of Palestinians. 

Basal called on the United Nations and its institutions to intervene urgently to find shelters that protect displaced citizens from the associated risks as winter looms closer. 

Destroyed infrastructure 

Since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October, Israel has cut off electricity and prevented the entry of fuel to operate the only power plant, as well as stopping the supply of water, food and medical supplies and closing the crossings.

Today, over two million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, and are currently living in squalid, makeshift conditions, according to a statement issued by Gaza's government media office.

"Israel continues its war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to end it immediately, and the orders of the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," the media office said in a press statement.

Around Gaza, Palestinians have already started taking steps to protect themselves from the harsh weather expected.  

In an attempt to prevent any damage from the rain, Mohammed al-Absi, a displaced Palestinian in the Mawasi area of ​​Khan Yunis city in the southern Gaza Strip, spends many hours every day securing his tent in the sand and re-adjusting nylon sheets on it, out of fear of it breaking or being flooded by the rainwater.

"We lived through a harsh winter because we were in tents, as we spent most of our time getting rid of rainwater...our children caught a lot of colds, and we didn’t have anything to confront the rain and cold, and we don’t have anything now either," the 35-year-old father of four told The New Arab. 

"We try as much as possible to avoid damage, but every time we are confronted with the difficult reality we are living because of the Israeli war, which has left nothing untouched, not only our homes, but also life as a whole," Al-Absi added.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed 41,206 Palestinians and wounded 95,000 others in the same time frame. The continued bombing has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged the enclave into a deep humanitarian crisis. 

Every aspect of life has been affected by the Israeli assaults, with students now being out of education for a full  year, and many Palestinians being displaced over 10 times.