Two Days Of Rain Soak Hundreds Of Tents For Gaza Refugees

Refugee families outside their emergency tents in Gaza City/PHOTOSmen UNICEF/Mohammed Nateel

JAKARTA - Hundreds of tents hosting Palestinians displaced throughout the Gaza Strip were again submerged for the second day in a row on Thursday due to heavy rains throughout the night due to new winter storms.

The tents were inundated after heavy rains from early morning until evening. These conditions further worsened the condition of families who had been expelled due to two years of Israeli genocide, according to Anadolu correspondent.

Reported by ANTARA, Thursday, December 11, Gaza's Civil Defense Agency said they evacuated dozens of tents in Rafah, southern Gaza, after the entire evacuation area was completely submerged.

The agency's spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, warned that more than 250,000 families in refugee camps were vulnerable to cold weather and puddles due to the outdated condition of the tents.

The agency also warned the humanitarian situation could worsen if the storm continued, especially as no temporary shelter was available for displaced families.

As for Tuesday (9/12), the Gaza Government's Media kantoor warned the polar low-pressure system would hit the region from Wednesday to Friday night and threaten hundreds of thousands of refugee families.

Since Wednesday, thousands of tents hosting Israeli war survivors have turned into puddles, making beddings, clothing, and supplies of soaking wet food, as well as hundreds of Palestinian families exposed to cold without warmth and without protection.

According to previous data from media offices, Gaza needed about 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the needs of the most basic postwar residences for two years that destroyed infrastructure.

The United Nations estimates that Gaza's reconstruction costs reach around $70 billion as a result of the Israeli war, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and injured more than 171,000 people.

The Israeli attack only stopped after the ceasefire agreement came into force on October 10.