10.12.2025
Winter Rains Flood Thousands Of Tents Sheltering Displaced Civilians In Gaza
Heavy rains have flooded thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the latest misery to befall civilians in the enclave. Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal warned in a video statement of an “imminent humanitarian disaster” resulting from the severe weather conditions. Most municipal wastewater networks in Gaza are destroyed or severely damaged by Israel, so any floodwater from the storm is highly likely to mix with raw sewage, significantly raising the spread of diseases like dysentery and cholera. With rubbish collection largely halted, vast piles of solid waste have accumulated across the besieged enclave, meaning that heavy rains could mobilise medical waste, plastics, animal remains and debris into areas where displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Groundwater resources that are tapped by residents could also be contaminated, while surface flooding could stagnate in some areas instead of receding since stormwater drainage and pumping stations are offline. Basal said aid entering Gaza still falls far short of meeting the needs of the territory’s 2.4 million residents, who are facing a severe humanitarian crisis, and called for immediate international action. According to earlier data from the media office, Gaza requires about 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after Israel destroyed infrastructure in two years. Nearly 850,000 people, currently sheltering in 761 displacement sites in the Gaza Strip, face the highest risk of flooding this week, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [Hamza ZH Qraiqea/Anadolu].
Credit: ALJAZEERA
Credit: ALJAZEERA
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
