At least 12 Palestinians are dead or missing in Gaza as the floodwaters spread
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Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans are facing floods from heavy rains, and materials for building shelters and shelters are not allowed to enter the organization, the UN International Organization for Migration said on Friday.
Heavy rains rose across the Gaza strip on Thursday, flooding families torn apart by two years of war, and leading to the death of a child from exposure, local health officials said.
A total of 12 people are dead or missing as a result of Storm Byron, at least 13 buildings have been destroyed and 27,000 tents have been filled, the Hamas-run Gaza Government Press Office said.
About 795,000 displaced people are at high risk of dangerous floods in low-intensity, debris-filled areas where families live in unsafe shelters, Ioyo said. Inadequate drainage and waste management also increase the risk of disease outbreaks, the UN agency added.
Building materials to help strengthen shelters, such as plywood, and sandwood and sandwing pumps to help floodwaters slow their entry into Gaza, said the IOM.
The local health authorities say that the girl child was killed in what appeared to be heavy rain that flooded the Gaza strip, flooding tens of families and being shot. Equipment damage and fuel shortages have officials saying they will not be able to weather the storm.
Israel says it is meeting its obligations and blames the cooperation agencies for failing to prevent theft by Hamas, which the group denies. Cogat, Israel’s civilian affairs arm, was not immediately available for comment.
In the refugee camp in Nuseirat, Central Gaza, the deep water is empty of tents, water-soaked rucksacks, shoes and clothes. Working with a bucket, 50-year-old Wetsfef Tawtah was trying to deal with the water outside but there was nowhere to go and he seemed to be making little progress.
“All night I was on our feet,” he said. “How can children treat you?”
When his family gathered around a small open fire on a sandy bank near the tent, he pulled out a pull-out mattress from the bugs. Even cooking a meal will be difficult.
“Our food is wasted,” she said.
‘All is destroyed’
Bahjat Dardouna, 50, said the tent where his son’s family had looted fell on them overnight.
“If it wasn’t for the neighbors who saved them, they would be dead now,” Dardouna told CBC News on Friday in Gaza City.
“Everything has been destroyed, there is nothing left. We have lost everything. The only thing we have left are the clothes we are wearing now,” she said.
Items already sent to Gaza, including waterproof tents, thermal blankets and tarpaulins, could not withstand the floods, IOM added.
“After this storm made landfall yesterday, families are trying to protect their children with whatever they have,” said Director General Amy Pope.
A ceasefire agreement was signed on Oct. 10 and where it has been carried on, Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza have continued since, at least 383 people were killed. Israel says three of its soldiers were killed at the time.
The war destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, resulting in dire living conditions. The UN and Palestinian Authority say at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the 1.5 million people still being displaced.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that more than 4,000 people were living in what it considers high-risk coastal areas, with a thousand people directly affected by high sea waves.
It warned of the health risks of pollution.
“Thousands of families live in slums and shacks without stones or barriers, and piles of rubbish everywhere on the streets,” said representative Rik Peeperkorn.
