At least six people have been killed and tens of thousands have had their tents flooded after torrential downpours hit Gaza.
asserted
downpours → kill → Gaza
Among the dead were a woman, her two children aged eight and six and three other children from the same family, all killed when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in Deir al-Balah.
asserted
embankment → kill → Balah
“They had been sheltering among forcibly displaced families in the central Gaza Strip,” Wassem Mushtaha, Oxfam’s Response Lead in Gaza said.
asserted
Mushtaha → shelter → Gaza
“The number of fatalities is expected to rise.
asserted
number → expect → fatalities
Severe flooding has displaced around 100,000 people.
asserted
flooding → displace → people
People have no safe place to go.”
asserted
People → have → place
Eyad Amawi, a representative of the Gaza relief committee, saw a woman’s distress after losing her loved ones in the floods.
asserted
Amawi → see → floods
“I cried watching her,” he told The Independent.
asserted
he → cry → Independent
Amawi said his own home in the Nuseirat Camp was surrounded by sewage water and that his children, one girl and three boys aged between 15 and four, have had to wade through the dirty pools to get around.
asserted
children → say → pools
Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, 1.7 million people have been displaced with the vast majority living in makeshift tents of varying quality and sturdiness.
asserted
majority → begin → quality
Many of the worst affected are children and the vulnerable with aid agencies on the ground telling The Independent that the storm has created a climate highly fertile for infectious diseases.
asserted
storm → affect → diseases
At least 70,000 tents were flooded overnight in an area that was already one of the most densely populated places on the planet before the war.
asserted
that → flood → war
Now, there are around 21,000 people per square kilometre, according to Amawi, with over 65 to 70 per cent of Gaza rendered off-limits by Israel.
uncertain
cent → be → Israel
Images from the flooding shows children particularly badly affected by the storm, walking around in water mixed with mud and sewage up to their abdomen.
asserted
children → show → abdomen
“We’re expecting to see an increase in respiratory infections, especially among children in the upcoming days,” says Mai Elawawda, a communications officer for Medical Aid for Palestinians based in Dar Al-Balah.
asserted
Elawawda → expect → Balah
“We’re expecting infectious diseases, and God forbid, hypothermia.
asserted
God → expect → diseases
She says that Palestinians living in tents are turning up to medical clinics in wet clothes that they are unable to change or dry.
asserted
they → say → that
With crossings into Gaza tightly-controlled by Israel, getting replacement materials and medical equipment to deal with the crisis caused by the flooding in a timely manner is near impossible.
asserted
getting → control → manner
It has caused the prices of material to skyrocket, making recovery and rebuilding difficult.
asserted
recovery → cause → material
Israel’s COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) told The Independent that “the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is currently the best it has been since the beginning of the war in terms of food availability, living conditions, and water and sanitation infrastructure.”
asserted
it → tell → availability
It added: “The entire population has access to tents or other shelter solutions, and Israel continues to take measures to mitigate the impact of adverse weather conditions on the population.”
asserted
Israel → add → population
It pointed to the provision of 91,000 tents, 8,200 trucks carrying tarpaulins, blankets winter clothing and additional supplies including sewage vacuum trucks since the ceasefire agreement was implemented last year.
asserted
agreement → point → trucks
But experts say it is not enough.
asserted
it → say → ?
Dr Goher Rahbour, a British consultant colorectal and general surgeon from Suffolk who is volunteering at Nasser Hospital in Gaza with the group IDEALS, says that the situation on the ground is dire.
asserted
situation → volunteer → ground
“Outside of the hospital there are thousands upon thousands of tents of a fairly poor quality plastic material,” he tells The Independent.
asserted
he → be → Independent
He explains that the tent cities have been pitched in basin-like areas that are slightly lower than ground level meaning that floodwater pools there.
asserted
floodwater → explain → level
“The tents are downhill, as as soon as there’s the slightest bit of water it goes down into these basins.
asserted
it → ’ → basins
They’re all flooded and it’s game over.
asserted
it → flood → ?
With no drains, electricity or infrastructure, the water collects soil, mud and dirt leaving Palestinians with little to do but try to dry their tents out and move on to the streets or abandon them completely.
asserted
water → collect → them
Hospital workers turning up to work with Dr Rahbour at Al Nasser are also unwell with coughs and colds.
asserted
workers → turn → coughs
“Once they finish work, it doesn’t matter how senior you are in a hospital, you are going back to live in a tent.
asserted
you → finish → tent
It also creates a difficult climate for patients.
asserted
It → create → patients
One woman who Dr Rahbour treated for appendicitis also suffered from scabies on her back.
asserted
Rahbour → treat → back
What would be a common condition requiring straightforward care back in Britain is complicated in such an environment and he is concerned about the woman’s risk of infection when she returns to her tent.
asserted
she → require → tent
“They don’t have topical ointments, or soap and water.
asserted
They → have → ointments
She was already suffering from some kind of upper respiratory ailment such as a cough.”
asserted
She → suffer → cough
According to Dr Rahbour and his colleagues, 70,000 tents, around 500,000 pieces of tarpaulin and 57,000 emergency shelter kits are needed immediately.
uncertain
tents → accord → tarpaulin
But despite the crisis he says it is the everyday misery that makes everything especially unbearable.
asserted
everything → say → crisis
The vast majority of people are living without any light, electricity, adequate food or nutrition.
asserted
majority → live → light
“You see it more in their face,” he explains.
asserted
he → see → face
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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