This is the latest dispatch from Rizek Abdel Jawad, a photojournalist based in Gaza City who frequently contributes to the NB Media Co-op.
Tens of thousands of tents housing displaced people in the Gaza Strip have been flooded with the arrival of the first winter rains. The Government Media Office in Gaza reported that, within just 12 hours of the onset of this weather system, 70,000 tents — sheltering tens of thousands of displaced individuals — were flooded.
The collapse of a sandbank killed a woman and three children in the Ard al-Ribat displacement camp in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza. Additionally, numerous walls collapsed, resulting in various injuries, some of which are serious, across the Gaza Strip.
Israel has reportedly blocked the entry of tents, repair materials and mobile homes.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has warned of grave consequences resulting from the continued delays. “For months we have sounded the alarm on essential winter supplies for Gaza, including throughout the UN General Assembly,” he said Wednesday in a statement released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Foreign Ministers and partners have assured me of support, but also repeatedly said that progress would be hard until after Israeli elections,” he said. “Now we’re told to wait for the formation of a government.” However, he said this is “not an acceptable excuse” under international humanitarian law.
“End this predictable, preventable suffering,” Fletcher said. “The world is not powerless here.”
This text was originally written in Arabic. An English version was produced using translation software, with editorial support from the NB Media Co-op.
Rizek Abdel Jawad is a photojournalist based in Gaza City. To see more of his work, follow him on Instagram and Facebook. He is part of the Connecting Gaza initiative, which helps families in Gaza survive. You can support them by going to www.connectinggaza.org/
