Strong winds, rain and winter are adding to the suffering of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, with thousands of families living in worn-out tents after their homes were destroyed in Israel’s bombardment of the coastal enclave.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza since a ceasefire came into effect last month, pausing Israel’s 15-month assault on the territory. But most people found their homes destroyed or heavily damaged.
Families have since struggled to find shelter amid mounds of debris and destruction across the besieged enclave.
A spokesperson for the Gaza City municipality told Al Jazeera that the city did not have enough resources to help the displaced amid the storm, adding that sewage and rainwater entered hundreds of tents and shelters.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from a makeshift encampment in the courtyard of a school in Gaza City, Mahmoud Riyad Khalil al-Fayoumi said he has been living in a tent alongside three other families.
“The blankets are very wet,” said al-Fayoumi, explaining that he sent his two-month-old baby and his brother, who has a spinal cord injury, to stay with other people due to the harsh weather conditions.
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“We don’t know what to do. We don’t know where to go. This is our situation here.”
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said heavy rain and wind had forced many Palestinians to leave a makeshift encampment in the western part of the city.
Basic supplies such as warm clothing also are not widely available, worsening the situation.
“People right now here are not only lacking shelter, but also the very essential supplies that provide them some warmth and protection from these terrible weather conditions,” Mahmoud said.
In its latest update on Wednesday, the United Nations humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) said with more than 500,000 people returning to the Gaza and North Gaza governorates, “the need for food, water, tents and shelter materials in that area remains critical”.
Despite increased deliveries of humanitarian aid since the ceasefire took hold on January 19, shelter assistance has been limited.
Earlier this week, the Gaza Government Media Office accused Israel of restricting the flow of aid and shelters into the territory.
“Securing shelters has become an urgent humanitarian need that cannot be delayed. It is the most pressing need at this moment,” it said in a statement earlier this week.
Tess Ingram, a communications manager at UNICEF, the UN’s child rights agency, said Palestinians in Gaza are ill-equipped to withstand the cold weather because they have lost so much during the war.
The situation is particularly dangerous for children, Ingram told Al Jazeera from Gaza City.
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“For kids in these conditions, it’s not only frightening to be outside, exposed and in the cold, but it’s also very dangerous for their wellbeing,” she said. “We’ve had a number of children in Gaza die of hypothermia and it’s clear here when you meet with families that they don’t have what they need to protect them from that cold. Families are lacking warm clothes for their children. There’s many children without shoes.”
Displaced Palestinians also continue to face harsh conditions in other parts of Gaza, as well.
“The tent flew away and the people were in disarray,” Saqer Abdelal told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in the central part of the enclave. “We’re now transporting our belongings to a man who agreed to host us until the winter ends.”
“This is more difficult to us than displacement,” said Anwar Hellis, another Palestinian in Deir el-Balah. “We woke up at night and found our tents destroyed due to the wind. Our clothes and food were filled with sand.”
In southern Gaza, the Rafah municipality has called for 40,000 additional tents and emergency shelter units for residents. The city is still hosting thousands of displaced people whose homes have been destroyed in other areas.
The municipality also said it does not have enough heavy machinery, which is hindering the reopening of roads and the clearing of rubble.
