Heavy rains in Gaza bring floods, diseases to the population

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Heavy rains lashed southern Gaza on Wednesday, bringing mud, flooding and in some cases disease to thousands of displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents in this corner of the conflict. scary.

“We didn’t get our winter clothes from Gaza City when we left more than a month ago,” Ramzi Mohammed, 31, told The Washington Post in a phone call. Mohammed lives in Rafah with his wife and three children. “All we do at night is hug each other for comfort,” he said.

During its attack on Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces directed the southern residents of Khan Younis and Rafah for shelter. The war has already killed at least 18,000 Palestinians and wounded 50,000, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. And Khan Younis, once considered safe, is now the scene of some of the heaviest fighting.

What is happening in Gaza’s Khan Younis, as the Israeli offensive moves south

About 1.9 million people in Gaza – or 90 percent of the territory’s population, according to United Nations data – have been displaced. Most people now live in tents covered with whatever blankets or clothes they can find.

“Blankets are not available in the market,” said Mohammed. “But (even) if we get it, I can’t afford the price.

Computer models showed 10 to 35 millimeters (0.4 to 1.4 inches) of rain fell over Gaza as a low pressure zone pulled moist air from the Mediterranean inland. Report from Israel Weather Service it showed that about that amount fell on most of the Mediterranean coast. Ashkelon, an Israeli city north of Gaza, received 15.9 mm (0.6 inches).

The low pressure area is currently moving east, and dry weather and weather is expected for the region in the coming days. The rains that occurred in Israel and Gaza are usually between November and March, usually considered the rainy season of the region.

The rain exacerbated the problems plaguing an already strained health system. With the spread of disease and overcrowding, the United Nations on Wednesday declared the situation “a public health emergency.”

“The shelters are already over their full capacity, and people are queuing for hours to get to the bathroom – one bathroom is available for hundreds of people,” said a Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, in a statement to the press. “It leads to nothing but a health problem.”

Hastings said that the Israeli order is hampering aid work.

“Just trying to get food to the people in Rafah is very difficult,” he added.

Mahmoud Aziz, 36, is one of those who fled south to Rafah under Israeli orders. He now lives in the same house with about 70 people.

“Our whole family has diarrhea that seems to be caused by the water we drink, or the cold weather,” he said. “We leave the windows open because of the bomb; we are afraid of the glass when there is a bomb.”

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.

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