‘Sky is our shelter': Palestinians trapped in flooded tents plead for help as attacks continue and winter approaches
Gazans confined to tents due to Israeli attacks are now facing a new disaster as sudden downpours worsen their plight.
In various regions of the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been carrying out attacks for 353 days, the arrival of winter has caused tents and belongings of Palestinians to be flooded.
In Gaza, where approximately 2 million people have been displaced, Palestinians are preparing to endure a second winter under siege.
The makeshift tents they have been living in for nearly a year have deteriorated and are no longer usable.
The government in Gaza highlighted this issue in a statement on Sept. 14, warning that with the approach of winter, 2 million displaced Palestinians face a humanitarian disaster.
The statement noted that 74% of the tents where the displaced are staying are unusable, and 100,000 of the 135,000 tents urgently need to be replaced due to wear and tear.
Even brief showers in many areas of Gaza were enough to submerge the tents and their contents, exacerbating the Palestinians' already dire situation.
The areas outside the tents have turned into muddy swamps.
Left without options, Palestinians expressed their despair to the world, saying that their only shelter is now "the sky."
- Tents already flooded before winter has fully arrived
Muhammad Abdullah Kobi, who moved to the Nusayrat Refugee Camp in central Gaza with his family to live in a tent, described how the tents are worn out and torn, and the ground where they set them up is unfit for living.
Kobi explained that even a brief downpour was enough to flood the tents and that they have received no waterproof tarps or supplies from international organizations to help them survive the winter.
"It rained for about an hour, and this is the result. What will we do when it rains for days? There's no safe or livable place for us to go — no house, not even a caravan. We don't even have medicine for our children when they fall sick," Kobi said.
- Humanity has died, no one is speaking about
The same scenes unfolded in the city of Deir al-Balah, another area affected by the rain.
Ahmed Abdullatif, whose mattresses and blankets were soaked by the rain, expressed his frustration: "Our suffering continues, and no one lifts a finger. People seem to take pleasure in the pain of our women and children."
In another tent, Fatma was trying to sew up their torn shelter while her husband, Khalid, struggled to save their belongings from the floodwater.
Khalid noted that his wife, a journalist, was patching up their worn-out tent instead of working.
"How much longer are we supposed to endure this tragedy?" Khalid asked, calling on the international community and humanitarian organizations to stop the war in Gaza.
