Flooding in Gaza compounds hardship of people displaced by Israeli attacks
Al JazeeraGaza’s Government Media Office says about 10,000 tents either washed away or were damaged due to the storm. Heavy rains have flooded tent encampments of displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, adding misery to communities already devastated by 13 months of war, as Israeli forces stepped up attacks in the enclave. On Monday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement that about 10,000 tents were either washed away or damaged due to the storm, appealing for international help to provide displaced families with tents to shield them against the rain and cold. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said many tent sites are near the coast and are not designed to withstand “these horrific conditions”, especially as colder weather approaches. In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli air attack killed at least four people, medics said, while tanks deepened their incursions in Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya, and Jabalia – the largest of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps.