Heavy rains have flooded thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the latest misery to befall civilians in the enclave, which has suffered more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war.
Heavy rainfall in advance of Storm Byron began before dawn on Wednesday, submerging thousands of tents in several areas across the besieged and bombarded territory.
Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal warned in a video statement of an “imminent humanitarian disaster” resulting from the severe weather conditions.
On Tuesday, the Gaza Government Media Office warned that a polar low-pressure system would affect the enclave from Wednesday until Friday evening, threatening hundreds of thousands of displaced families.
Most municipal wastewater networks in Gaza are destroyed or severely damaged by Israel, so any floodwater from the storm is highly likely to mix with raw sewage, significantly raising the spread of diseases like dysentery and cholera.
With rubbish collection largely halted, vast piles of solid waste have accumulated across the besieged enclave, meaning that heavy rains could mobilise medical waste, plastics, animal remains and debris into areas where displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
Groundwater resources that are tapped by residents could also be contaminated, while surface flooding could stagnate in some areas instead of receding since stormwater drainage and pumping stations are offline.
Basal said aid entering Gaza still falls far short of meeting the needs of the territory’s 2.4 million residents, who are facing a severe humanitarian crisis, and called for immediate international action.
According to earlier data from the media office, Gaza requires about 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after Israel destroyed infrastructure over two years of the genocidal war.