GAZA, (PIC)
Rasha Rizk struggles to keep her 3-month-old baby warm, as the cold seeps into the bones of the displaced people living in tattered tents. Since the start of the genocidal war in Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have used forced displacement as a weapon against the population, destroying their homes in brutal attacks and leaving them as refugees in tents in Khan Yunis under harsh conditions.
Rizk tells our reporter that the weather in the tent in Khan Yunis is extremely cold, and their frail bodies cannot withstand the biting cold. “We sleep inside deadly refrigerators,” she says.
The first displacement
Rasha was displaced along with her injured husband and children to a tent in the Attar area of Khan Yunis after Israeli forces invaded the neighborhoods of Khan Yunis over a year ago, destroying the home that had provided warmth and life for the family. She emphasizes that the severe cold gnaws at their bones, saying, “We were in homes where the cold was intense; what about a fabric tent that offers no protection from the summer heat or winter cold?”
Adding to the suffering of this grieving woman is her inability to provide winter clothing for her children due to its absence in the markets. “My children shiver at night, crying from the cold, but there’s nothing we can do.” There are no means to heat the tent—no wood, no gas, nothing.
Tattered tents
Rizk’s situation reflects that of thousands of displaced citizens living in tattered tents, enduring the pain of daily life, hunger, siege, cold, and illness. Citizen Ibrahim Radwan also suffers from the biting cold, as he tells our reporter that he is displaced with his family in the town of Deir al-Balah, living in a tent. He confirms that the cold is killing them, stating, “My children get sick every day from the cold, suffering from colds and flu.”
Restrictions on entry of clothes
Radwan is struggling with a lack of winter clothes and blankets; the reality is very grim. Our reporter has learned from sources that the occupation forces are preventing the entry of winter clothing and blankets, while also perpetrating genocide in various forms. His wife expresses to our reporter: “Is it not enough that they kill us with missiles and bombs? Now they are killing us with hunger, cold, and disease.”
She condemned the suspicious international silence and the feeble Arab stance, saying, “Have we reached such a level of helplessness that we die from hunger, illness, and cold?”
UN reports have confirmed that the displaced in Gaza are living their second winter in tents under dire conditions, while relief organizations point to a severe shortage of blankets, clothing, and life necessities.
