Gaza City is experiencing widespread flooding and the blowing away of thousands of tents, in addition to dozens of devastated areas being inundated, with every weather depression hitting the city, amid catastrophic humanitarian conditions and a near-total collapse of infrastructure and operational capacity, turning rainy weather into a genuine humanitarian emergency.
اضافة اعلان
Gaza Municipality spokesperson Hosni Mehna said on Monday that the intensification of weather depressions multiplies the risks to the lives of residents and displaced persons, especially given the deterioration of thousands of tents that were not designed to withstand wind and rain. This is compounded by the collapse of dozens of residential buildings at risk of falling, which displaced families are forced to inhabit due to the absence of alternatives, leading to casualties and deepening the scale of the humanitarian tragedy.
Mehna explained that Gaza Municipality is operating under exceptionally harsh conditions with almost nonexistent resources, noting that the operational capacity of the remaining machinery does not exceed 15% of what was available before the war, after 135 vehicles and pieces of equipment were fully or partially destroyed. He added that the remaining equipment is being severely depleted during emergency periods amid a shortage of spare parts and their high cost.
He added that the municipality has at times been forced to seek assistance from the private sector and rent a limited number of machines to carry out urgent emergency works, such as opening roads, removing rubble, and unclogging sewage lines, within extremely limited financial means. He stressed that this solution is merely a stopgap and falls far short of the actual needs on the ground.
Mehna pointed out that stormwater drainage and sewage systems are among the most severely damaged sectors, with drainage capacity reduced by 80%, leaving current capacity at no more than 20% at best. This follows the destruction and damage of all eight operating main drainage pumps, in addition to the destruction of approximately 212,000 linear meters of sewage networks, leaving the city threatened by flooding and sewage overflow with every weather depression.
He further noted that Gaza City’s infrastructure has suffered extensive destruction estimated at around 85%, including the damage and destruction of 830 kilometers of road networks in all their components. This hampers the movement of emergency crews and prevents rapid access to affected areas, especially during severe weather conditions.
Mehna added that around 1,250 Gaza Municipality employees continue to perform their humanitarian duties around the clock during weather depressions, despite the harsh conditions they endure, the killing of dozens of their colleagues during the war, injuries to others, and damage to the homes of many staff members and the displacement of their families.
He confirmed that the municipality is facing a severe financial deficit due to the halt of local revenues and the paralysis of collection, which prevents the regular payment of salaries. Only partial advances or symbolic amounts are paid when limited resources are available, despite field teams continuing their work during emergencies.
The Gaza Municipality spokesperson warned that the continuation of these conditions, coupled with successive weather depressions, threatens to exacerbate the humanitarian, health, and environmental disaster in the city. He called for urgent international intervention to ensure the entry of heavy and medium machinery, maintenance equipment, construction materials, and fuel, as well as the provision of safe shelter solutions to protect thousands of families living in tents and buildings at risk of collapse.
For its part, the Government Operations Room said that the Gaza Strip needs approximately 200,000 prefabricated housing units to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of displaced persons and to ensure safer shelter in the face of harsh weather conditions.
