Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice this winter. With more than 400,000 homes destroyed in the war, Gazans are being forced to choose between living in tents exposed to the elements or run the risk of living inside the ruins of buildings that could collapse any minute.
Hiyam Abu Nabah has no access to a tent; so that terrible choice has been made for her. She lives with her family in the shell of a building in the Hamad area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, with no walls to protect them from the elements and the upper floors of the building pancaked above them.
Last week, torrential rains and floods killed at least 17 people in Gaza, including children, Palestinian Civil Defense Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said. Others, he said, died due to building collapses. More than 90 residential buildings were affected and approximately 90% of shelters for people displaced due to Israel’s war in Gaza were completely flooded.
“On the first day of the storm, we could hear the stones cracking above our heads,” Abu Nabah says. “Sand was falling into our eyes… this is not a life.”
She watches her five-year-old weave in-between electrical wires hanging down from the crumbling ceiling. The wires are now used to hang clothes to keep them off the wet floor; electricity is but a distant memory here.
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
