LONDON: Gaza’s winter nights have grown longer and deadlier as torrential rains, flooding and bitter cold batter hundreds of thousands of Palestinians already wearied by more than two years of Israeli bombardment. Many are so malnourished they lack even the body fat needed to withstand the cold.
Families across the enclave stay awake through the night gripping their tents to keep them from being torn away by strong winds or swept off by floodwaters, all while fearful of a sudden Israeli airstrike. Parents carry children for hours, and at times older children carry younger ones to protect them from drowning.
More than 90 percent of Gaza’s population have been displaced repeatedly by the Israeli onslaught on the enclave, which started on Oct. 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. (Reuters/File)
“When it rains, of course all the tents flood, and all their bedding is soaked,” said Maysa Yousef, a mother of four and artist based in central Gaza. “People spend the entire night fighting for their lives, crying and pleading.”
“Civil Defense rushes in, along with rescue crews, to save people,” Yousef told Arab News. “They secure the tents and take families to so-called safe places; but in reality, there are no safe places because all of Gaza is destroyed; they take them to schools or other locations.”
