GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- "We fled the Israeli shelling and death in Gaza, but now we are drowning in rain and seawater," lamented Abbas Lafi, a displaced Palestinian now residing in Khan Younis.
The 50-year-old father of seven told Xinhua that he woke up late at night, only to find his family floating on the water, with mattresses and belongings inside their tent, just a few months after it was erected on the coast of the Mawasi area in Khan Younis of southern Gaza.
Although the tent was too dilapidated to protect them from winter's cold or summer's heat, Lafi tried to remove the water from it and save everything that could be saved, as he explained that it was difficult for them to replace mattresses or blankets due to the lack of necessary humanitarian aid.
Musab Sahweil, another displaced man in Khan Younis, shared a similar plight after fleeing his home in the city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
"The rain and the raging seawater took everything -- my tent, mattresses, clothes," said the 39-year-old father of three, sitting next to his destroyed tent, tears welling up. With only the belongings they could carry after being awakened by the flooding, Sahweil's family headed to his brother's tent, which was somewhat far from the beach.
Before the war, Sahweil was working hard to build his house. "The Israeli army destroyed my house and my dream of living a better life," he said. "The war made me homeless and helpless, unable to support my family."
Near Sahweil's tent, Sharifa Alwan, a 42-year-old mother of four, sat on a mattress floating on the water, hugging her newborn baby. "What have we done to deserve this punishment? Why should our children suffer so much?" Sahweil questioned.
Lafi, Sahweil, and Alwan were among tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians who set up tents and took refuge along southern Gaza's beaches after the Israeli army warned them to leave their homes in the north.
Thousands of their tents have been drowned and destroyed by strong winds recently hit the coast of the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced on Monday that around half a million people in Gaza are at risk of flooding.
"Temperatures are dropping and rain is starting. There are no safe shelters, blankets or warm clothes for people to seek some respite," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on social media platform X on Tuesday.
"Winter in Gaza means people will not only die because of air strikes, diseases or hunger. Winter in Gaza means more people will die shivering because of the cold, especially among the most vulnerable including older people and children," Lazzarini said.