The battle of Gaza with hunger and cold... slow killing without weapons
In mid-December, rain fell, sweeping away the displaced people's tents and their few belongings (Al Jazeera)
In mid-December, rain fell, sweeping away the displaced people's tents and their few belongings (Al Jazeera)
When she fled the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza to the south with her son Muhammad (5 years old) as a result of the Israeli bombing late last October, Israa Kamal Al-Jamlan was eight months pregnant.
The mother and her child walked the three kilometers between her home and Al-Shifa Hospital.
Like many others who took shelter in the hospital, Israa only took a few shirts and light pants with her because she expected to return home soon.
Two months after her displacement, the 28-year-old woman and her family are still residing in one of the hundreds of tents that were set up in the middle of the Gaza Strip without any means that could protect her and her newborn from the harsh winter and low temperatures accompanied by rain that struck the besieged Strip.
“When I gave birth to her, the rain had not yet fallen here,” Israa said while holding her pale-skinned newborn. “My husband and I were trying to look for shelter from the rain after water leaked from the cracks of the tent.”
She added, "We went through difficult days the likes of which we had never seen before."
Israa Al-Jamlan gave birth to her baby girl on November 24, and she and her husband currently reside in a tent in Deir Al-Balah (Al-Jazeera)
The couple struggles to heat their generators inside the tent where forced displacement forced them to take refuge in harsh climatic conditions and without clothes or blankets.
Note that they will not be able to take her outside near the fire that the displaced people are lighting next to the tent for warmth, because the smoke makes her difficult to breathe.
“On that day, she kept coughing until her color turned blue... We were terrified that she might die,” Israa says about the day she brought the newborn to the fire for the first time. She added, in a trembling voice, “I’m worried about my daughter. She hasn’t received her vaccinations yet.” now".
The winter season in Gaza usually extends from December to March and is accompanied by low temperatures, on average, reaching 8 degrees.
Heavy rains and thunderstorms will make the survival of those stranded and forced to stay in temporary tents without a roof to protect them.
In mid-December, the expected happened, as heavy rains fell accompanied by strong winds, sweeping away the dilapidated tents and drowning the clothes and blankets of the displaced people under which they were sheltering.
Source: Al Jazeera