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Gaza -

A depression accompanied by heavy rains and strong winds exacerbated the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of displaced people in dense tents in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, where more than a million displaced people reside, representing about half of the Strip’s population.

Throughout last night, sleep did not reach the eyes of the displaced, including Umm Ahmed Alloush, who was displaced with her family from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City to the Al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah.

Umm Ahmed lives in a tent that was ravaged by rain and wind. She told Al Jazeera Net, “We drowned inside the tent... By God, we were tired, and even in the war between Russia and Ukraine, what happened to us (what happens to us) in Gaza did not happen.”

The wave of precipitation is expected to subside by this evening, but the displaced people fear another depression next Friday, which may be more severe.

The tents of the displaced were drowned and blown away due to rain and strong winds (Al Jazeera)

In the wind

“We are being subjected to an Israeli war of annihilation that targets all Palestinians,” says Umm Ahmed, as the winds uprooted her tent, where she lives with her three daughters and her husband, and it was flooded with rainwater.

With tearful eyes of sadness for her and her family’s situation, Umm Ahmed was trying to repair what was ruined by the rain and wind, while she was shivering from the extreme cold, and re-installing the tent, which she did not hope to stay in for a long time, and to return to her home in Gaza City.

Umm Ahmed, who is 50 years old, is one of the majority of Palestinian refugees, numbering approximately 1.9 million people, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), representing 85% of the population of the Gaza Strip who were forced to flee their homes and areas of residence.

Due to the violent war waged by Israel since last October 7.

Amid stormy conditions, waves of displacement continue to the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, especially from the neighboring city of Khan Yunis, which is witnessing horrific Israeli crimes as the ground operation continues, accompanied by air and ground bombardment.

There is no longer enough room in UNRWA shelters, or in schools and government facilities, and even the streets have become crowded with displaced people living in tents that are unable to face the difficult weather conditions.

The depression exacerbates the tragedy of thousands of displaced people in the city of Rafah (Al Jazeera)

War and weather

In a few words, Muhammad Nasrallah, who was displaced from the northern Gaza Strip, described to Al Jazeera Net the difficult night he spent with his family in a tent near the border with Egypt, west of the city of Rafah, by saying, “Bombing, hunger, terror, and rain.”

Rafah residents and those displaced there live with the sounds of huge explosions that can be heard at long distances from the city of Khan Yunis, the distance between them is about 11 kilometers.

Muhammad, who has been living with his five family members and his mother-in-law in a small tent since he was forced to flee from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip to Rafah, about 3 months ago, says, "It was a very difficult night, in which the sounds of thunder, lightning, and wind mixed with the explosions of rockets and shells."

Muhammad repeats, “Our life is a tragedy,” and says, “By God, the war made me hate it in the rain and winter is the most beautiful season of the year (..) It is enough, by God, this is forbidden.”

Muhammad's fear of his children becoming infected with diseases increases as a result of the rain, extreme cold, and the lack of appropriate bedding and covers.

The United Nations warned of a public health catastrophe in the Strip, and of the spread of deadly diseases and epidemics among its residents, and its relief agency admitted that Gazans face bombing, deprivation, disease and hunger “in an ever-shrinking area.”

Health disaster

The Ministry of Health in Gaza describes the health situation as “disastrous and extremely painful,” and has monitored a large spread of epidemics, infectious diseases, and respiratory diseases among residents and displaced people, especially in the city of Rafah.

The head of the Health Emergency Committee in Rafah, Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, told Al Jazeera Net that these diseases are particularly widespread among children, and the most common are intestinal infections, hepatitis, and chest and respiratory infections.

The large exodus to the city of Rafah led to enormous pressure on Abu Youssef Al-Najjar, the small and only government hospital in the city.

Al-Hams, who heads this hospital, says, "The accumulation of displaced people in tents and shelter centers, in light of this difficult weather, and with the lack of hygiene, sterilization, and food, leads to a large outbreak of diseases, and the matter becomes more difficult with the great shortage of medicines and the lack of vitamins and antibiotics."

Source: Al Jazeera