While winter storms enter Gaza, the combination of violent time, the lack of shelters and the blocking in the process of humanitarian aid of Israel has created an increasingly desperate situation for hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Cold temperatures, incessant rain and strong winds have transformed makeshift shelters into barely livable spaces, offering little or no protection against elements.
The restrictions of Israel for aid deliveries have only aggravated the crisis, leaving a lot without access to the most fundamental necessities, including food, medicine and heating.
The borders were among the key violations cited by Hamas when she announced on Monday that she would postpone the release of more Israeli prisoners, initially scheduled for Saturday, unless the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu respected the terms of the agreement Candiders.
International aid groups and civil servants have alarmed themselves on how the incoherent flow of supplies due to Israeli roadblocks aggravates the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
“The health system is ruined. Malnutrition increases. The risk of famine persists, “said Hanan Balkhy, regional director of the eastern Mediterranean at the World Health Organization.
“We are ready to develop our response, but we need urgency a systematic and sustained access to the Gaza population, and we need restrictions on the entry of essential supplies.”
A recent update from the United Nations Coordination Office said that nearly a million inappropriate Palestinians live in “lower quality tents or makeshift shelters, families using old bags of rice together for a basic coverage ”.
Hosni Mahna, spokesperson for the municipality of Gaza, said: “The cold has a catastrophic impact on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in temporary tents and shelters, in particular with the lack of heating and the basic supplies To protect against rain and strong winds. “”
Families, including young children and the elderly, sleep on cold dirt or cement floors without insulation, increasing their risk of infection and illness. Strong winds have torn makeshift tents, while heavy rains flooded whole accommodation camps, leaving a lot in uninhabitable conditions.
“There is an acute shortage of tents. In the governors of Gaza and North only, we need at least 120,000 tents to temporarily shelter residents who have lost their house, but what has been delivered so far covers only 10% of real needs ” , said Mahna.
