Gaza Government Media Office: Destruction of 90% of Infrastructure Turns Weather Into Humanitarian Catastrophe

The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip has disclosed the scale of the human and material losses caused by the weather front that struck the enclave, announcing that four citizens were killed and two others, including children and women, are missing, while dozens were injured in collapses involving a sand embankment and walls falling onto the tents of displaced families in Deir al-Balah.

In a press statement on Monday, the office said the weather front caused around 70,000 tents sheltering displaced people in hundreds of camps to flood within just 12 hours, while preliminary material losses were estimated at about $3 million.

It explained that the scale of the disaster was compounded by the systematic destruction of more than 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure, especially sewage and rainwater drainage networks, which led to the flooding of displacement camps and their transformation into pools of water and mud, noting that the first weather front, which lasted two days, left heavy losses.

The office noted that the continuation of the blockade, the shrinking of displacement areas and the moving of what is known as the “Yellow Line” have pushed thousands of citizens to seek refuge in areas lacking the essentials of life and safety, at a time when the occupation prevents the entry of materials for rehabilitating infrastructure and sewage networks, and supplies for shelter, reconstruction, mobile homes, fuel and spare parts needed to operate municipal and civil defence machinery.

It held the Israeli occupation, the US administration and the international community responsible for the catastrophe and its repercussions, while warning of the danger of the collapse of dozens of cracked and dilapidated buildings as a result of their being targeted during the genocide war, posing a threat to the lives of their residents and citizens in their vicinity.

The office criticised the absence of the “Peace Council” and the national committee for the administration of Gaza in dealing with the repercussions of the catastrophe, calling on international and rights institutions, foremost among them the United Nations, to intervene urgently to oblige the occupation to open the crossings and allow the entry of humanitarian and relief needs, heavy equipment and the supplies required to rehabilitate the infrastructure.

It also called on shelter committees and citizens to cooperate with municipal crews and facilitate their work, especially in opening sand quarries within municipal jurisdiction to protect the remaining tents from flooding, and demanded urgent action to strengthen the capabilities of municipalities and civil defence, which are operating with almost non-existent resources.