Displaced people in Gaza face winter conditions in tent camps

Gaza Strip— Barefoot children played in the cold sand as thousands of displaced people in Gaza prepared worn-out tents on Saturday for another round of winter rains. Some families in the central city of Deir al-Balah said they have lived in tents for almost two years, or for most of the war between Israel and Hamas that has devastated the territory. Parents reinforced the worn tents with old pieces of wood or inspected the torn edges of holes in the tarpaulins. Inside the dark homes, daylight through small holes shone like stars. Mothers fought against the humidity, hanging clothes on poles or ropes to dry in the wind between the downpours that turn the paths into puddles. A mother moved a small child away from a patch of moldy carpet. "We've lived in this tent for two years. Every time it rains and the tent collapses on our heads, we try to put up new pieces of wood," commented Shaima Wadi, a mother of four, displaced from Jabaliya in the north. "With how expensive everything has become, and without any income, we can barely afford clothes for our children or mattresses for them to sleep on." The Gaza Ministry of Health, part of the Hamas-led government, has reported that dozens of people, including a two-week-old baby, have died of hypothermia or after the collapse of houses damaged by the war due to the weather. Aid organizations have called for more shelters and humanitarian aid to be allowed into the territory. Emergency workers have warned people not to stay in damaged buildings. But with much of the territory reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. "I collect nylon, cardboard, and plastic from the streets to keep them warm," said Ahmad Wadi, burning the materials or using them as a kind of blanket for his loved ones. "They don't have proper covers. It's very cold, the humidity is high, and water seeps in everywhere. I don't know what to do."

Ceasefire Talks

It is expected that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington in the coming days while negotiators and others discuss the second stage of the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10. Although the agreement has largely held, its progress has slowed. The remains of the last hostage taken during the attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which unleashed the war, are still in Gaza. Challenges in the next phase of the ceasefire include the deployment of an international stabilization force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and further withdrawals of Israeli troops from the territory. Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violations of the truce. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that since the ceasefire came into effect, 414 Palestinians have been killed and 1,142 injured. It said that the bodies of 679 people were pulled from the rubble during the same period, as the truce makes it safer to search for the remains of people previously killed. The ministry reported on Saturday that 29 bodies, including 25 that were recovered from under the rubble, were taken to local hospitals in the last 48 hours. The total number of Palestinian deaths from the war between Israel and Hamas has risen to at least 71,266, according to the ministry, and another 171,219 people have been injured. The ministry, which does not distinguish between militiamen and civilians in its count, is composed of medical professionals and maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by the international community.

Operation in the West Bank

Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement on Saturday that a military operation was continuing in a city in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel, a day after police said a Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, killing both. The statement said the army surrounded the city of Qabatiya, from where Katz said the attacker was from, and was operating "with force" there. Authorities said on Friday that the attacker was shot in Afula and taken to a hospital. It is a common practice for Israel to launch raids in the West Bank cities where attackers come from or to demolish the houses belonging to the families of the aggressors. Israel says this helps locate combatant infrastructure and prevents future attacks. Rights observers describe such actions as collective punishment. A video from The Associated Press on Saturday showed Israeli bulldozers entering the city and soldiers patrolling. "They announced a strict curfew," reported Bilal Hanash, a resident, as he and others described how the main roads were closed with earth barriers, a practice that has grown during the war in Gaza. "Basically, they are punishing 30,000 people."