GAZA, January 1, 2025 (WAFA) – Under rain-soaked tents and with children shivering from the biting cold, Gaza’s displaced welcomed the new year not with celebration but with grief, despair, and mounting hardship. After 15 months of relentless Israeli genocide and widespread devastation, they face one of the harshest winters in memory.
As the world ushered in 2025 with fireworks and festivities, Gaza’s skies were illuminated by explosions from Israeli airstrikes. The accompanying torrential rains compounded the plight of tens of thousands of displaced families. Their makeshift tents were inundated, their scant belongings destroyed, and their spirits weighed down by another year of unrelenting tragedy.
A hrsh new year’s eve
On New Year’s Eve, relentless rain turned Gaza’s displacement camps into muddy quagmires. The deluge flooded more than 1,500 tents, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense Directorate, leaving families scrambling to salvage what little they had. For many, the few blankets and clothes they owned were soaked beyond use.
The consequences have been devastating. In just two days, seven displaced individuals, including six children, succumbed to the freezing temperatures, with the United Nations warning that the death toll could rise. Many of Gaza’s displaced have no access to winter essentials, and the continued destruction of homes by Israeli airstrikes leaves little hope of finding adequate shelter.
“I feel like we’re drowning in a sea of despair,” said Umm Thaer Al-Masri, who fled her home in Beit Lahia for a displacement camp in Gaza City. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, she described her flooded tent and the dire conditions she and her injured son endure daily.
“Children are dying from the cold,” she added. “We don’t have enough blankets, clothes, or even a dry place to sleep. We left everything behind when we fled under the bombs.”
Her plea to the world was heart-wrenching: “We are a people who love life, peace, and safety. We don’t want war. Stop the genocide against us.”
Freezing nights, no alternatives
For Ahmed Al-Sous, another displaced resident from Beit Lahia, the recent rains turned even the supposed refuge of a school-turned-shelter into a nightmare. “The water seeped into the classrooms, soaking our blankets and mattresses,” he told Anadolu Agency. “We spent the entire night trying to keep the water out, but it was futile. Now we have nothing dry left.”
Many families, like Al-Sous’s, have no alternatives. Children are forced to wear wet clothes for hours, leading to respiratory illnesses and other health issues. A displaced mother, who preferred not to be named, said her children could no longer endure the frigid temperatures without adequate winter clothing or blankets.
“We don’t need food or water right now,” she said. “We just need the war to end.”
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached alarming levels. With the latest storm leaving destruction in its wake, the challenges for aid organizations, including international agencies, continue to grow.
M.N
