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Gaza war: Palestinians displaced by war face a harsh winter

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BBC Mohammed Al-Halabi at the beach camp in Deir Al BalahBBC

Mohammed al-Halabi is one in every of hundreds of Palestinians residing on Gaza’s seashores

The seashores of Gaza are now not for day journeys. Tens of hundreds of individuals now need to dwell on the shoreline, pressured to depart their houses through the conflict.

In latest days they’ve come below a brand new sort of assault: from winter seas battering their flimsy, makeshift dwellings.

“Nothing is left in the tent: not mattresses, bedding, bread, everything was taken. The sea took it,” says Mohammed al-Halabi, in Deir al-Balah.

“We rescued a two-month-old child who was dragged out to sea.”

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants is now displaced and 9 in ten of these residing in shelters are in tents, the UN says.

With temperatures plummeting, many individuals have been falling sick. There have been floods of rainwater and sewage.

“My children’s feet, their heads—everything is freezing,” Shaima Issa tells the BBC in Khan Younis. “My daughter has a fever because of the cold. We’re essentially living on the streets, surrounded by strips of fabric. Everyone here is sick and coughing.”

“When it rains on us, we’re drenched,” provides her neighbour, Salwa Abu Nimer, crying. “The heavy rain floods us, and we don’t have a waterproof cover. The water seeps into the tent, we wear our clothes wet.”

“No flour, no food, no drink, no shelter,” she went on. “What is this life I’m living? I go to the ends of the earth just to feed my children.”

Salwa Abu Nimer with one of her child in Khan Younis

Nine in ten Palestinians residing in shelters, together with Salwa Abu Nimer (left) and her youngster, are staying in tents

While the state of affairs is worst within the north, UN officers are warning of dire shortages of medicines, meals, shelter and gasoline throughout Gaza, describing the state of affairs as “catastrophic.”

There are lengthy queues for charity handouts in elements of central and southern Gaza the place most individuals reside.

On successive days, our native cameramen have filmed tons of of individuals crowding outdoors bakeries the place there may be little or no bread. At instances, there are crushes as these ready surge ahead.

“I need a loaf of bread. I have pain, diabetes, and high blood pressure. I can’t push through crowds of people; I’m afraid I’ll suffocate and die,” says Hanan al-Shamali, who’s in Deir al-Balah however initially comes from northern Gaza.

“I need bread so that I can feed the orphans I take care of. Every morning, I come here. In the end, do I get bread or not? Sometimes I get it, but most of the time, I don’t.”

Crowd at the bakery in Deir Al Balah

The BBC’s native cameramen in Gaza filmed individuals crowding outdoors bakeries, determined for bread

At the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israel’s predominant crossing level with Gaza, final week journalists have been proven lorries transferring items that had gone by safety checks.

Aid getting into the Palestinian territory stays at among the lowest ranges of the previous yr. Israel blames help businesses for distribution issues.

“Unfortunately we’re still seeing that the biggest backlog for humanitarian aid getting to where it needs to get to is the distribution capabilities of the international organisations, as the 800 trucks worth of aid around me attest to,” said Shimon Freedman, spokesman for Cogat, part of the Israeli military that control the crossings.

But inside Gaza, humanitarian workers say armed gangs have been looting incoming supplies brought through Kerem Shalom amid increased lawlessness. This has now led the biggest UN agency operating in the territory, Unrwa, to pause its use of this route for deliveries.

The overall picture, says Antoine Renard, local head of the UN’s World Food Programme, is of Palestinians facing “a daily struggle for survival”.

“The ranges of starvation, devastation and destruction we’re seeing now in Gaza is worse than ever earlier than. People can not cope anymore,” Mr Renard says. “There is barely any food coming in while markets are empty.”

Amid the destruction in Gaza, there may be nonetheless no finish in sight to the conflict. Just the expectation of extra struggling, as chilly climate units in.

Displaced on the beach at Deir Al Balah

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