Reporting

Gaza: in Rafah, “in the heart of winter, in the rain, with summer clothes and sandals”

In Gaza, the humanitarian situation is a little more dramatic every day, and this is particularly the case in Rafah, in the far south on the border with Egypt, where a very significant part of the inhabitants of the besieged enclave have found refuge recently, and where the Israeli government ordered the army to prepare the offensive, this Wednesday, February 7.

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Palestinians photographed in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, through a mirror, this Wednesday February 7, 2024. AFP - MOHAMMED ABED

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Report by

Rami Al Meghari

in the Rafah displaced persons camps, with our correspondent in Jerusalem,

Sami Boukhelifa

Children who play almost indifferently. “ 

But their innocence was confiscated from them

,” confides Faten, their mother. “ 

They know they no longer have a home. They know that feeding them is a challenge that their father must face every day.

 »

For children to take a shower, you have to pay a lot of money; for them to eat, we also have to pay. We live in poverty, there are lots of microbes and bacteria everywhere. There are only shared toilets. We had to buy a tent. We paid very, very dearly for it.

Displaced Palestinian children stand among tents flooded by heavy rains, in a makeshift camp set up by people who fled ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas militants, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip , January 27, 2024. AFP - -

Faten, but also her husband, as well as their two boys and their daughter, are from Khan Younès. After the destruction of their house by a strike, they found refuge in the very south of the Gaza Strip, in makeshift camps where the displaced were crowded together, in Rafah, she confided. 

Our life has changed so much... I had never cooked outside over a wood fire before. Now I have to. The food is full of dirt and ashes. Plus, when we left home, it was hot. We find ourselves in the heart of winter, in the rain, in summer clothes and sandals. Children are suffering because of the cold.

“ 

But we consider ourselves lucky

 ,” repeats the mother. At least we were able to afford a tent, she adds. Many here cannot afford to buy one. Their price can reach 500 euros. Out of reach, for displaced people who have lost everything.

Displaced Palestinians walk through puddles in rainy weather to collect food rations, in a tent camp set up in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on February 2, 2024. AFP - MOHAMMED ABED

Also read: Israel, Gaza, four months of war

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