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‘Helpless’: The families facing winter in tents on the beach in Gaza
Displaced families on Gaza’s southern coast are bracing for another winter in fragile tents that offer little protection from rain, wind and rising seawater. With safer accommodation unaffordable or unavailable, residents fear a repeat of last winter’s flooding, which left children exposed to cold and damp and caused serious illness.
Anas al-Shami, 33, lives with his family of six near al-Qarara port after being displaced from Bani Suheila; Ibrahim Abu Tair, 47, shares a cramped tent there with his seven children. Mayasem Association is making temporary barriers from damaged cooking pots filled with soil, stacking three to reach about 150 centimetres and help keep waves away from shelters. The initiative offers limited protection, while Gaza’s Winter Emergency Committee has warned that the humanitarian crisis is worsening and safe shelter remains scarce.
In short
- Displaced families face winter in unsafe tents on Gaza’s coast.
- Last winter’s flooding left children cold, wet and seriously ill.
- A pot-and-soil barrier offers only temporary protection.
Explained simply
Gaza is a small, densely populated Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast. Many people have been displaced from their homes during the war, and families in the south have sought shelter near the coast, including around al-Qarara port.
Tents provide little protection from heavy rain, strong winds or seawater, and winter conditions can make damp and cold dangerous, especially for children. With safer accommodation scarce and costly, some families have few alternatives.
Mayasem Association is a local group trying to protect shelters with barriers made from soil-filled cooking pots. The barriers can reduce the impact of waves, but offer limited protection; the Winter Emergency Committee has warned that safe shelter remains scarce across Gaza.
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