Qatar broadcaster, Al Jazeera reported that rainfall on Wednesday sparked new challenges and concerns for the majority of Palestinians, amid heavy bombardments from Israeli military on the enclaved Gaza Strip.
It added that it’s especially worrying for those who evacuated their houses and followed the orders of the Israeli occupation forces to flee to the south and, in particular, in the al-Mawasi area.
Winter weather has heaped more misery on displaced Palestinians who are sheltering in flimsy tents in the Gaza Strip.
“My son is sick because of the bitter cold and my daughter is barefoot. It’s like we are beggars,” Aziza al-Shabrawi, currently living in a tent camp in Rafah, told Al Jazeera. “No one cares, and no one helps.”
Some families in the camp have proper tents, but others are making do with tarpaulins or thin, see-through plastic made to protect goods, not provide shelter to people. Many tents had no groundsheets, so people spent the night huddling on wet sand.
Yasmin Mhani said she woke up during the night to find her seven-month-old child soaking wet.
“Our house was destroyed, our child was martyred and I remain facing it all. This is the fifth place we have had to move to, fleeing from one place to another, with nothing but a T-shirt on,” she said.
Gaza death toll surges
At least 18,608 people have been killed and 50,594 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures issued by Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
A total of 196 killed people and 499 wounded arrived at hospitals during the past 25 hours, while a large number of victims are still under the rubble of destroyed buildings, according to the ministry.
Israel’s military has also issued updated casualty figures. It said that the number of personnel injured in the war has increased to 1,704. That includes 619 soldiers who have been wounded – 139 of them seriously – inside Gaza during the ground operation. The military said 115 soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.
