DaysofPal- The Gaza Strip is facing a “real and deepening catastrophe” as severe winter storms strike the enclave, compounded by Israel’s continued blockade and obstruction of reconstruction efforts, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem warned on Thursday.
Qassem said the impact of the storm has been devastating, with heavy rainfall flooding displacement shelters across the Strip and causing the death of a young girl due to freezing temperatures.
He stressed that the humanitarian crisis is a direct extension of what he described as the Israeli ongoing “genocidal war” against Gaza.
He urged international mediators and guarantor states of the ceasefire agreement to exert meaningful pressure on Israeli occupation to allow the launch of a full reconstruction process, saying such action is essential to protecting thousands of displaced families left exposed to extreme weather.
Qassem also called on Arab and Islamic nations, along with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to take urgent and concrete steps to rescue Gaza from the dire conditions caused by widespread destruction and recurrent winter storms. “This is a responsibility that rests on everyone,” he said.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces, backed by the United States and several European governments, have waged a genocidal war in Gaza, which has involved mass killing, starvation, widespread destruction, forced displacement, and arrests, carried out despite international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop the violence.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, the Israeli genocidal war has resulted in more than 241,000 Palestinians killed or injured, the majority of them women and children. Over 11,000 people remain missing, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced amid a famine that continues to claim lives, especially among children.
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