Displaced Palestinians in Rafah Start Wearing Winter Garments After First Rain Shower
(AWP) - A few weeks after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from their homes due to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, they found out they would need winter clothes as the first rain shower started.
As the war goes on for six weeks now, many displaced people fled for their lives without carrying any luggage or clothes and all that they thought about was to make it to shelters, which are overcrowded and mostly located in the enclave’s southern areas.
Most of the displaced Palestinians do not have money to buy clothes. They only live on aid provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as well as charity.
“It was a tough long way with my father in a wheelchair. The tanks were face to face with the people. We made it Rafah but there were no garments or food. We are trying with difficulties to find the things we want in the market,” said Ibrahim Ayesh, a Palestinian displaced from al-Shati’e camp along with his family and crippled father to Rafah.
“The prices are so high. When we were displaced to Rafah, we left our money back home. I only have a little sum of money with me,” he added.
Iyad Ahmed, a displaced Palestinian from Gaza, said, “We have been displaced during summertime. We were putting on summer clothes. Now it is raining and growing cold. We live inside the schools. We came to buy garments. Hopefully, this war will come to an end.”
Ahmed Hossam, a seller of clothes in Rafah, complained of the low supply of garments compared to the high demand by the people displaced from the north and have not obtained anything with them.
“Now, the weather is different and they would need clothes. The amount we have is barely enough. We are trying to help the displaced with all that we are displaying on the stall. They are inside schools and their conditions are so hard. May God help them,” he noted.
The United Nations estimates the number of displaced Palestinians in Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli war last month at more than 1.6 million.