She despairs, that mother, clasping her daughter’s now lifeless little body in her arms and lifting towards her wet face. Just 8 months. That little girl from Gaza died of cold and starvation, while Israel once again limits the entry of basic necessities.
Just 8 months.
There are days when the spotlight is monstrously turned off. A total blackout, as if the atrocious history of power had been miraculously deciphered. Others where, out of decency, a glance must be directed. Yes, because, while the world has definitively turned the other way, people continue to die in Gaza. Of hunger with an empty plate, of incessant rain tearing apart curtains, of cold inside a hut. Of storm Byron and of war.
Here, throughout the Gaza Strip, the downpours and the killing cold of these last few days have brought floods and exacerbated the already complicated humanitarian situation, which has never been resolved, which no one has ever seriously wanted to resolve. Those Palestinians, the vast majority of whom – after years – live in tents and other temporary shelters, have never found peace.
And rain and mud and water and mud. Tent coming down and ground getting soaked. Anyway, who cares.
Rafah. Just eight months
It’s one of many. A name added to the list of those killed in Gaza. Girls and boys, that would be enough to end it here.
TO Khan Younisin southern Gaza, the Abu Jazar family woke up the other morning to find that their 8-month-old daughter, Rahaf, had died of hypothermia. The tent in which they were camping had flooded during the night and there was no way to save it.
There is no salvation, if you think about it. They don’t save themselves. If you think about it.
Crying and caressing Rahaf’s lifeless little body in her arms, the mother, Hejar Abu Jazarcontinues to despair, saying that he had fed his daughter the night before:
He was fine. I breastfed her last night. Then, suddenly, I found her frozen and shaking. You were healthy, my darling.
Cries.
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Thousands of people risk losing temporary shelters again
Meanwhile, the municipal authorities of Gaza City have launched an urgent appeal in these hours, urging residents to avoid the low-lying areas, where the rain could force thousands of families to leave their shelters again. The areas where displaced people are located are particularly vulnerable, below street level. Rain, with sewer overflows, exposes people not only to rainwater, but also to wastewater, putting their health at risk. Temporary shelters, already inadequate, do not offer protection from the cold and bad weather, making survival even more difficult in a context already marked by suffering and a scarcity of resources.
Despite the appeal to international and humanitarian organizations, the materials needed to improve living conditions have not yet arrived. The tents, which are insufficient in number, are not suitable for the climate situation in Gaza: they do not protect from the rain or the cold.
In this scenario, every winter storm becomes a new tragedy, exacerbating the difficulties of a population exhausted by war, displacement and a total lack of prospects for the future.
@thesameerproject It’s pouring right now in Gaza. God help all the families living in tents. We anticipate incredible suffering through the next few days of rain during Winter Storm Byron. https://chuffed.org/project/149178-sameer-project-x-mass-displacement-campaign. The scenes of flooding and tents submerged in sewage water will be worse than the first storm faced. Since that first storm our number one request from residents in encampments has been to bring them sand. Truckloads and truckloads of sand. This allows the ground to be leveled and drained so that there are no depressions and holes for rain runoff to rush towards. Here is an area in Al-Daraj, North Gaza that got drowned during the last storm. Families found the water pouring into their tents because they were in a low lying area. They asked for us to bring sand to flatten the land. Each truck load of sand, which includes the rental and fuel to bring it, costs $1,010 after 9% commission. And you can imagine how many will be needed in the upcoming days. Donate to our Winter initiative through our Return Home Campaign. Other ways to donate include: http://paypal.me/mahertali (Paypal option, please make sure to add a message saying “Winter”) https://account.venmo.com/u/Maher-Ali (Venmo option, please make sure to add a message saying “Winter”)
♬ original sound – The Sameer Project
Families in Gaza not only need immediate aid, but also solutions that guarantee the safety, health and dignity of those living in these difficult conditions. For a little peace. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 850,000 people are sheltering in 761 displacement sites in Gaza, which are particularly vulnerable to flooding.
Who will tell those children one day that adults like to play war, under a sky that is the same for everyone, in the midst of the puddles that in this part of the world they would use to jump in and get dirty? Who tells them that that water that comes down and that mud and that rain and that cold that penetrates the bones would continue to kill them, if they could, exterminating them one by one to remove the hassle of looking at Gaza? Who?
