A baby freezes to death when floods hit the Gaza Strip

Heavy rains and cold weather across the Gaza Strip have caused flooding and hunger, exacerbating the humanitarian situation for Palestinians, most of whom are living in tents and temporary shelters after two years of fighting.

On the morning of December 11, when the Abu Jazar family woke up in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the strip, they discovered Rahaf, their 8-month-old daughter, had died of hypothermia in the cold weather, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

The child’s parents said their tent flooded during the night. Hejar Abu Jazar, the baby’s mother, breastfed the baby that evening. “The baby was completely healthy. I just breastfed him last night. When I woke up in the morning, I saw him freezing and convulsing,” she said.

On December 10, Gaza City authorities also warned people to avoid low-lying areas due to the risk of flooding due to heavy rains, while there were no suitable alternative shelters.

“Faced with this serious situation, we once again call on the international community and relief and humanitarian organizations to intervene urgently,” the Gaza government said.

The Palestinian Medical Aid Organization (MAP) said on December 10 that many tent camps were lower than road level, causing rainwater to flood families’ tents.

“The situation is worse due to the overflow of wastewater. People have to be exposed to rainwater and wastewater at the same time in temporary shelters that have almost no ability to resist water and cold,” said Haytham Herzallah, a member of MAP. “Some tents are designed to protect against heat in desert weather, but cannot protect them from cold rain.”

On December 11, the Gaza Civil Defense Force said the entire camp from north to south was flooded. At a Deir al-Balah camp in the central region, reporters recorded dozens of ruined tents lying in the mud.

“Last night was very difficult. I had just finished putting my children to sleep when the floodwaters came. The children stayed up all night to drain the water,” said Um Ibrahim Ubeid, a resident of the camp.

According to the UN, nearly 850,000 people are sheltering in 761 tent camps in Gaza. Due to heavy rain, Mr. Mahmoud Abu Salah’s small amount of food and flour in Deir al-Balah camp was damaged.

“Where are the people responsible for us now? They are sleeping. We can only rely on God,” he said.