{"id":4287,"date":"2025-12-11T05:35:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T05:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/displaced-gaza-families-struggle-as-winter-storm-hits\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T05:35:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T05:35:43","slug":"displaced-gaza-families-struggle-as-winter-storm-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/displaced-gaza-families-struggle-as-winter-storm-hits\/","title":{"rendered":"Displaced Gaza families struggle as winter storm hits"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Deir el-Balah, Gaza \u2013<\/strong> After a night of relentless rain, Arafat al-Ghandour and his wife, Nour, finally exhaled in relief as the morning sun emerged, if only briefly, over the soaked displacement camp.<\/p>\n<p>The couple, parents of five, live in a worn tent riddled with holes. They spent the night battling water pouring in from every direction.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/10\/us-federal-judge-halts-trumps-national-guard-operations-in-california\">US federal judge halts Trump\u2019s National Guard operations in California<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2025\/12\/10\/olympics-decision-on-gender-eligibility-to-come-in-early-2026\">Olympics decision on gender eligibility to come in early 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/12\/10\/anger-after-deadly-dual-building-collapse-in-morocco\">Anger after deadly dual building collapse in Morocco<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/economy\/2025\/12\/10\/us-federal-reserve-cuts-interest-rates-in-final-decision-of-the-year\">US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates in final decision of the year<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Arafat, 39, shares the cramped space, no larger than eight square metres (86sq feet), with 15 family members, including his elderly parents, his sister and her family, and his brother\u2019s wife and children. The conditions, he says, are \u201cinhumane\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll night I was plugging the holes with rags and plastic bags,\u201d Arafat told Al Jazeera. \u201cI haven\u2019t slept yet. And they say the storm hasn\u2019t really started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the early morning, the family hurried to spread their drenched clothes, blankets, and belongings in the sunlight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe finally breathed a sigh of relief when the sun came out,\u201d said Nour, sitting beside her husband. \u201cAll our clothes were soaked. We have nothing else. Even our blankets and the children\u2019s clothes were drenched. I took the kids outside immediately just to dry off a little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nour described the panic of waking up to find water pouring into the tent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy children were asleep and soaked. I started waking them one by one so they wouldn\u2019t get even more drenched,\u201d she said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t living.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once a season she loved, winter now makes her anxious and miserable, with only meagre shelter offered by the tents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4164881\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4164881\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-10-at-15.58.26-1765372286.jpeg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C578&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Gaza family after storm.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4164881\">Arafat lives in their tent with 15 members of his family [Maram Humaid\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve lost faith in everything. I\u2019ve given so many interviews and made appeals. They all come to film our tents and our lives, and the media and everyone else see us crying out, but nothing changes,\u201d Nour tells Al Jazeera angrily, pointing to the tattered sides of her tent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould anyone accept living in this place? To face winter like this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould anyone accept living like this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The family fled Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza a year and a half ago and settled in Deir el-Balah after losing their home. With no means to rebuild or return, they remained in the south.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a tent there and a tent here. So we said, \u2018Why try to move?\u2019 We stayed,\u201d said Arafat, who has been unemployed for two years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you believe we all sleep crammed together in this place without any privacy? Imagine me sleeping here with my wife next to me, while my brother\u2019s wife and brother sleep directly opposite us?\u201d Arafat says bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo man with any sense of honour in the world would accept this. But what can we do? We have no other options. Our dignity has been trampled on from all sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked around the camp, frustrated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are the caravans and housing units the media keeps talking about? We never see anything. Why isn\u2019t anyone solving our suffering?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The family, like thousands of displaced Palestinians, lives with no income and cannot afford food, clean water, clothes, or blankets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t even feed my children,\u201d Arafat said. \u201cHow am I supposed to buy a tent at these ridiculous prices? If charity kitchen (tekkiya) comes, we eat; if it doesn\u2019t, we don\u2019t. That\u2019s our life now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Arafat, a good quality tent costs between 1,800 and 2,500 shekels, equivalent to about $550 to $775.<\/p>\n<p>Tarpaulins and nylon range in price from 250 to 400 shekels (roughly $75-125) depending on their length, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese tents should be given to the displaced for free, not sold at prices no one can afford,\u201d he said. \u201cHow can an unemployed man who has been struggling for two years, like me, buy a tent to shelter my children?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Deeply anxious about the storm expected to hit Gaza from Wednesday night until next Saturday, Arafat desperately hopes his plight will be heard and his family\u2019s suffering seen, even just once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe heard about caravans and housing units coming into Gaza. All lies. Empty promises,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want a decent tent to protect my children. Nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4165021\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4165021\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-10-at-17.07.56-3-1765376337.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Family after flood.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4165021\">\u2018Our lives are beyond words\u2019 [Maram Humaid\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nearby, Basma al-Sheikh Khalil, 66, stood silently in front of her rain-soaked tent, watching sewage flow through the muddy paths between tents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur situation is not like anyone else\u2019s,\u201d she laments to Al Jazeera with a sigh. \u201cA woman my age needs rest and warmth, not this endless exhaustion we\u2019ve endured for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She described watching her young grandchildren tremble through the night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was so sad to see my young grandchildren shivering from the cold last night and continuing into the morning in the rain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese children have suffered so much in the war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy heart breaks for them,\u201d\u00a0 Basma said, tears welling in her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Basma recounted to Al Jazeera their recurring suffering with the winter, their tattered canvas tents unfit for habitation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast night, we were completely flooded. The water reached halfway up our feet, and my children and I spent the night wading through it to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To make matters worse, their makeshift cesspool overflowed with rainwater, flooding the entire area with sewage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can imagine the stench, how it permeated everything, how our tents and blankets were soaked with sewage,\u201d Basma said, pausing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat can I say? What can I say? Our lives are beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pointing to a hole in the ground covered with scraps of wood and worn-out cloth, she added, \u201cThis filthy sandy hole has been our toilet for two years. Can you imagine what our lives must be like?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho understands us? Who feels our lives and what we endure? No one,\u201d Basma said, clapping her hands together.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4165017\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4165017\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-10-at-17.07.57-1-1765376332.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Basma and her family, her husband, their six married sons, and their children, were displaced to Deir al-Balah after fleeing the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza fleeing intense Israeli bombardment of their area.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4165017\">Basma and her family were displaced to Deir el-Balah after their neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City came under intense Israeli bombardment [Maram Humaid\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Basma and her family, her husband, their six married sons, and their children, were displaced to Deir el-Balah after fleeing the Shujayea neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, fleeing intense Israeli bombardment of their area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe escaped by a miracle. We left everything behind, no blankets, no furniture, nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They returned to northern Gaza after October\u2019s ceasefire, but headed back to the south as the situation deteriorated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe situation is catastrophic throughout Gaza. Our lives are a constant cycle of destruction, displacement, hunger, exhaustion, and suffering. It\u2019s as if we\u2019re destined to continue living like this,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>For Basma, the changing seasons are no longer a source of optimism now that she lives in a tent.<\/p>\n<p>She said that the summer and its scorching heat were extremely difficult, but the winter rains were causing even more suffering.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn summer, we would run away from the tent to find shade under any wall or nearby building, but the rain and its downpour? How do we deal with it? Where do we go in it? How do we endure the bitter cold and the rain at the same time?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She shook her head slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSummer or winter. Every season is torture. We have no one but God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deir el-Balah, Gaza \u2013 After a night of relentless rain, Arafat al-Ghandour and his wife, Nour, finally exhaled in relief as the morning sun emerged, if only briefly, over the soaked displacement camp. The couple, parents of five, live in a worn tent riddled with holes. They spent the night battling water pouring in from &#8230; <a title=\"Displaced Gaza families struggle as winter storm hits\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/displaced-gaza-families-struggle-as-winter-storm-hits\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Displaced Gaza families struggle as winter storm hits\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}