Mondoweiss: First Rainfall Heralds Disaster for Gaza’s Displaced as Winter Approaches | Politics

As winter approaches, the challenges facing displaced families in the Gaza Strip are increasing. Families are left with only two options: either drowning in sewage water or being exposed to the tide and waves on the beaches, after the first rainfall revealed an environmental and health crisis that threatens more than two million displaced people.

Thousands of tents are spread out just a few feet from Gaza’s sandy beaches, writer Tariq Hajjaj said in a report published by the American website “Mondoweiss”. Displaced families are trying to build sand barriers to prevent the incoming tide from flooding their homes. The tide has caused many families to lose their tents, and they are now trying to pack their belongings and find drier ground.

These were the scenes that unfolded in Gaza last week, as Palestinians in the territory witnessed their first rainfall of the season.

Last week’s rains have exposed a looming environmental and health disaster for millions of displaced people crammed into overcrowded tents or bombed-out neighborhoods in central and northern Gaza, where almost no infrastructure remains.

During the ongoing genocidal war, the Israeli army destroyed 655,000 meters of sewage lines and 330,000 meters of water lines, according to the government media office in Gaza.

There are only two options

This means that displaced families across Gaza will have two choices during the coming winter, when flooding has become increasingly common: either drown in sewage in Gaza’s devastated urban areas, or be swallowed by the rising tide in the camps by the sea.

The writer said that Attia Abu Banan, 28, a father of a one-year-old girl, lives in a camp on the beach near Khan Younis; his family’s tent was flooded after rainstorms passed through Gaza last week, causing the tide to rise.

He spent the entire night of September 15 standing in a pool of seawater, holding his daughter to protect her from the water. The waves damaged part of his tent and submerged his family’s belongings, including their clothes and food.

“My family no longer has anywhere to go,” Attia says, standing on the beach on a cloudy day, waiting for his clothes to dry as he puts them on.

Abu Banan and countless other families arrived on the beach two months ago. Most of Deir al-Balah’s residents had come from Khan Younis and Rafah, the latest in a series of displacements since the war began nearly a year ago.

The tide is pulling the children in.

In an interview with the site, Ilham Abu Amsha, a mother of eight, stands on the beach with thousands of tents stretching in the background. She says the tide flooded her tent the previous night and dragged her children several meters away from her while they were sleeping.

She added that last night was a very difficult night, as the waves were high and scary and flooded everyone’s tents, and the winds were also very strong and violent, which caused the fabric of her tent to tear.

“This is an unbearable situation. Our shelters are dangerous. It is unbearable,” Ilham adds.

Ilham describes how her children were almost swept out to sea by the force of the waves. “If we hadn’t rescued them, they would be dead by now. Where should we take our children? Look at the waves: should we stay here until they swallow us?”

Between the sea, the cold and the sewage

Ilham is also worried that the coming winter will leave them trapped between the sea and the cold. “Will we die from the cold, from the sea, or from the bombing? If winter comes while we are still here, we won’t have blankets to warm ourselves. We won’t even have a tarpaulin to protect us from the rain,” she wonders.

The writer reported that evacuation warnings for the displaced in Gaza are no longer issued only by the Israeli army, as municipalities now also send warnings to the displaced in areas whose streets have been flooded by rainwater or sewage, directing them to move to other places.

Hazem Fahd, an engineer in the Deir al-Balah municipality, says that the Sahen al-Baraka area, which houses thousands of displaced families, received an evacuation order from the municipality.

Fahd says that most of the rainwater flows into this part of Deir al-Balah now, and there is no drainage system to remove it. This is the danger, because if it rains in large quantities, people’s lives will be in great danger.

risk of drowning

Fahd confirms that people in some areas may be at risk of drowning due to the severity of the expected floods, as the water level in the Sahin Al-Baraka area may reach 2.5 metres.

Fahed adds that the Deir al-Balah municipality has not faced problems from the accumulation of rainwater in these areas before, but Israel’s destruction of the city’s roads and infrastructure could lead to a tragedy this year.

The writer pointed out that the Sahen Al-Baraka area is located on an area of ​​300 dunams (about 30 hectares), and it is one of the few areas that can accommodate a large number of displaced people, but when they arrived in the area two months ago, it was still summer and there was no danger of flooding.

Two million homeless

The Government Media Office in Gaza issued a report on September 14 stating that the number of displaced people has been steadily increasing in recent months, documenting the existence of 543 shelters and displacement centers throughout the Strip, which is on the brink of a real humanitarian disaster with the arrival of winter, as nearly two million people will become homeless.

The report also indicated that the government’s field assessment indicates that more than 100,000 tents in Gaza are unfit for human habitation due to erosion and damage, explaining that most of the tents are made of plastic and worn-out fabrics.

The Government Media Office called on the international community to save two million displaced people from Gaza before it is too late.