The war has led to widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip. Food is scarce and health care is in danger of collapsing. Now rain and cold are making people's situation worse.
Heavy rain and cold weather have worsened the situation for people in the Gaza Strip in the last few days of the year. The Civil Defense, which is affiliated with the Islamist Hamas-led government, said it had received hundreds of emergency calls because shelters had been flooded. Hundreds of thousands of people live in tents in the area.
Numerous images of flooded tent camps for Palestinian internally displaced people circulated on social media. Footage from the AP news agency also showed children in the mud between rows of densely packed tents.
A makeshift clinic in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip is under water. In winter, storms and heavy rains are common in the region. Temperatures drop below ten degrees Celsius at night.
Thousands without protection from wind and weather
According to the UN, almost a million people in the Gaza Strip have to spend the winter months without adequate shelter. Recently the temperatures in the city of Gaza were sometimes below ten degrees at night, there were strong winds and rain.
Aid organizations had warned about the precarious living conditions of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip amid lower temperatures and an increase in illnesses among children. At least four infants have died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, according to local authorities.
U.N: Health system in Gaza on the brink of collapse
The UN, meanwhile, warned that “because of Israeli attacks, the health system in the Gaza Strip is on the verge of complete collapse.” Commenting on a new report from the UN Human Rights Commissioner, its office in Geneva said “the series of deadly attacks by Israel on hospitals in Gaza and the… Proximity, as well as the struggles surrounding it, have brought the health system to the brink of complete collapse.”
The impact on Palestinians' access to health care and medication would be “catastrophic,” the statement continued. According to the report, at least 136 attacks on 27 hospitals and twelve other medical facilities in the Gaza Strip were recorded between October 2023 and the end of June 2024 – with high casualties among doctors, nurses and civilians.
The Israeli accusations that the buildings were used by Islamist groups such as Hamas were also “vague and general.” To date there is no sufficient information about this.
Hospital no longer functional after attack
Israel recently launched an attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. According to the World Health Organization, the last functioning hospital in the area has since ceased to function. The Israeli army justified the attacks by saying that “terrorists” were hiding there.
Since October, Israeli army operations in the Gaza Strip have focused on the north of the Palestinian territory. According to official information, the offensive by land and air is aimed at preventing a reorganization and resurgence of Hamas.
Clemens Verenkotte, BR, currently Tel Aviv, tagesschau, January 1st, 2025 6:07 a.m
