Rafah needs 40,000 tents for displaced Gazans amid severe weather: Mayor

GAZA CITY, Palestine

A Palestinian mayor appealed to the international community on Thursday to provide 40,000 tents and shelters for displaced civilians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah amid heavy rainfall.

Palestinians spent a harrowing night in Gaza after severe weather brought heavy rains and strong winds that flooded tents and uprooted others, deepening their suffering in already difficult humanitarian conditions.

“The situation in Rafah has reached a catastrophic level, with tens of thousands of people spending the night in the open under heavy rains and fierce winds that have torn apart their dilapidated tents, leaving them vulnerable to cold, hunger, and disease,” Ahmed al-Soufi said in a statement.

He added that 90% of residential units in Rafah were completely destroyed by 15 months of Israeli bombardment.

“Some other 52,000 units were partially damaged, leaving the city unable to accommodate its affected residents, with no sustainable housing solutions in sight,” he added.

Soufi warned that Rafah is ‘no longer habitable.”

“The situation worsens each day without genuine international intervention to save Palestinians from the dangers of displacement, famine, and disease,” he added.

The Rafah mayor urged the UN, humanitarian organizations, and international bodies to provide “at least the minimum essentials for dignified living before the disaster turns into an uncontrollable tragedy.”

“The international community must act immediately to secure 40,000 tents and shelters for displaced Palestinians in the city, who have been left homeless by the Israeli occupation,” he added.

“Rafah is dying, and any delay in response is a death sentence for thousands of families who have lost everything.”

According to the Gaza government media office, the Israeli army has destroyed nearly 88% of Gaza's infrastructure over the course of the Israeli war, including homes, vital facilities, and public services.

A ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 47,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.