The winter tragedy being hidden from view
Aotearoa is just days away from the start of summer. In Palestine, winter officially begins in December, but it's already in full force. And it's adding even more misery to Palestinians trying to survive a genocide.
That's why we are launching a campaign to cover donations to the mutual aid fund over the Christmas period.
Since the ceasefire announcement, we have seen an enormous drop in donations. That's understandable given our media have not covered that Israel has violated Gaza truce nearly 500 times in 44 days. Sadly, our media has not covered the devastating flooding that's destroying the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.
I am enormously grateful to Dr Jehad Malaka for writing this piece for us about what it's actually like in Gaza. Please think of him in his tent, in the bitter cold, in floodwaters, writing this piece for us. It is a heart-wrenching but inspiring piece of writing. Please share it wherever you can.
Or you can donate directly via Prosean Pictures 06-0574-0906928-00
Flooding deepens Gaza’s humanitarian crisis
By Dr Jehad Malaka
Flooding season in Gaza was a recurring hardship long before 2023. Decades of deteriorating infrastructure left many families living in homes unable to withstand heavy rainfall. During winter storms, floodwaters frequently mix with wastewater, exposing residents to heightened risks of infection and other serious health concerns.
Today, the situation has become far more severe. Two years of extensive destruction have left Gaza’s infrastructure barely functional. Heavy rains now overwhelm what remains of the drainage networks. At the same time, damaged water systems and contaminated wells make access to clean water increasingly scarce, even though it was already so difficult to obtain.
As families struggle to stay warm and dry in overcrowded shelters and makeshift tents, the threat of illness and waterborne disease has grown dramatically, compounding an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The all-out genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation against the Gaza Strip over the course of two years has led to the killing of at least 70,000 Palestinians, half of them women and children, and the destruction of about 90% of buildings and homes.
The occupation levelled the governorate of Rafah to the ground, along with vast areas in the north of the Strip, eastern Khan Younis, and eastern Gaza City, and it now effectively controls roughly 53% of the Strip’s territory.
This massive destruction has displaced more than two million Palestinians from their demolished homes, forcing them to flee multiple times, and leaving them today living in harsh conditions, either in worn out tents that are torn apart by wind and flooded by rainwater, or in overcrowded shelters lacking even the most basic requirements of human life, confined to less than 20% of Gaza’s area.
These displaced people lack the essentials of life, water, food, and medicine, after the assault destroyed everything. Responsibility for relief work has been left to dozens of local and international organisations that have been operating under difficult circumstances for two years, while their movement is restricted by the occupation authorities that control the entry of supplies and prevent UNRWA from carrying out its role, despite it being the most experienced and capable agency in this field.
With the arrival of winter, the picture grows even darker, and displacement appears not to be a temporary condition but one likely to continue for years, with no clear horizon for reconstruction.
All of this makes it imperative to search seriously for responsible national solutions that go beyond appeals and scattered efforts.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza makes it clear that the Strip has become a disaster zone by every measure, and the displaced cannot be left prey to a reality that worsens by the day.
Before this bleak scene, I surrendered myself to what is destined and vowed to my people that I would fulfil my national duty toward my family and the displaced of Gaza.
I decided, as many others have, to put my life on hold and devote myself to serving the displaced who fled barefoot or nearly unclothed, and I am one of them, leaving behind their homes and lives in search of salvation that has come at a steep cost.
We established a modest shelter centre, equipped it with tents, took responsibility for preparing meals in a small communal kitchen, and ensured mattresses, blankets, and children’s clothing were provided against the harsh winter cold. We tried to maintain a measure of dignity by setting up facilities for bathing and sanitation, and we organised psychological support programs for children to ease the terror and trauma they had endured and are enduring.
Life in displacement was not easy; anxiety, depression, and helplessness crept into both soul and body. Without the support of some international organisations and the help of generous people and friends, we would not have been able to continue our relief work for the displaced in the camp and the dozens of tents around it.
Every night we listened to people’s stories: mothers who had lost their children, men who alone survived the rubble, and children relearning life by the light of a candle or a small fire.
And despite the displacement and the near-impossible life in tents, one certainty unites all the displaced: We will not leave our land, and we will not accept any project aimed at emptying Gaza of its people.
These tents will remain a temporary stop, no matter how long it lasts. We will return to rebuild what was destroyed and restore our cities and our lives, for this land is a homeland in which we live and in whose soil we will one day be buried.
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