Displaced Palestinian families suffer as heavy rains flood Gaza tent camps

"Palestinians call for better tents and other supplies as Israel maintains restrictions on aid to war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Displaced Palestinians are reeling after heavy rains flooded their tents in makeshift displacement camps in Gaza City, as the United Nations warns that Israeli restrictions on aid have left hundreds of thousands of families without adequate shelter. Abdulrahman Asaliyah, a displaced Palestinian man, told Al Jazeera on Friday that residents' mattresses, clothes and other belongings were soaked in the flooding."

"We are calling for help, for new tents that can at least protect people from the winter cold, he said, explaining that nearly two dozen people had been working for hours to get the water to drain from the area."

"This winter rain is a blessing from God, but there are families who no longer wish for it to fall, fearing for the lives of their children and their own survival, Asaliyah said. Gaza's civil defence agency said Friday's flooding primarily affected Palestinians in the north of the Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people have returned following last month's ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Flooding was also reported in central Gaza's Deir el-Balah, said the rescue agency, which urged the international community to do more to address the suffering of Palestinians whose homes were destroyed in Israel's two-year war on the enclave."

Heavy winter rains flooded tents in makeshift displacement camps in Gaza City, soaking mattresses, clothes and other belongings and forcing residents to drain standing water. Displaced families are calling for new, weatherproof tents, caravans and homes to protect them from cold and further damage. Gaza's civil defence agency reported flooding mainly in the north, where hundreds of thousands returned after a recent ceasefire, and also in Deir el-Balah, urging international delivery of shelter supplies. The United Nations and humanitarian groups warn that Israeli restrictions on aid have left hundreds of thousands without adequate shelter, food, and medicine.

Read at www.aljazeera.com