Civil Defense in Gaza: Tents deteriorated, winds uprooted some, and families live in the open

The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip continues to worsen, reaching a new peak of cruelty, where thousands of displaced families are subjected to a bitter test in the face of a fierce winter storm currently hitting the region.

The Civil Defense Department in the sector reported that its crews are receiving a flood of distress calls moment by moment, due to the heavy rains and violent winds that have turned the shelter camps into arenas for confrontation with nature and homelessness.

According to field data, the dilapidated and worn-out tents, exhausted by the sun and rain over the past months, did not withstand the intensity of the storm; their fabrics were torn and their poles completely uprooted, leaving women and children exposed without protection from the bitter cold.

Sources indicate that rainwater has flooded what remains of the displaced people's meager belongings, adding the soaking of clothes and bedding to their hunger and deprivation, in a scene described by Civil Defense as "beyond bearable capacity."

Despite the acute shortage of equipment and limited capabilities imposed by the occupation through the suffocating siege, rescue teams are trying to perform their humanitarian duty with whatever rudimentary tools are available.

The crews are working under extremely dangerous weather and security conditions to provide aid to those suffering from the cold or trapped under the rubble of what remains of residential structures, in a race against time to protect lives before the depression intensifies in the coming hours.

In the midst of this bleak scene, Civil Defense renewed its urgent appeals to international organizations and humanitarian bodies for the immediate intervention to provide weather-resistant shelters and secure heating tools and blankets.

What is happening today in Gaza is not just a passing weather condition, but a comprehensive human catastrophe that requires an international stance to put an end to this slow death creeping into the frail bodies under the roofs of torn tents.