A Heat wave in Gaza Strip This week, temperatures have soared above 100 degrees over the past few days, not only making life unbearable for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people trying to rebuild their lives in tent cities but also making it difficult for some businesses to operate.
By Saturday, the hot weather had subsided significantly, with milder temperatures expected in the coming days. But the recent highs are giving us a glimpse of what could happen over the summer.
“The hot weather is a challenge for us,” said Mohammed Fayyad, a displaced pharmacist who started selling medicines from a tent he built out of wooden boards, curtains and scrap metal. Displaced persons camp in Al-Mawasi.
Fayed, 32, said that without electricity or alternative energy, he was unable to store the medicines – which he bought from pharmacies that were forced to close – at temperatures low enough to prevent damage.
“Fifty percent of chronic disease medications are inaccessible because we don’t have any source of electricity to keep them cool,” Mr. Fayed said at his makeshift pharmacy, named after his 3-year-old daughter, Julia.
Mr. Fayed is working to find ways to generate electricity to stock his refrigerators with medicines.
“I’m hoping to find those solar panels, which are very expensive, to provide a wider range of options for people who are being displaced,” he said.
Mr. Fayed was displaced with his wife and only daughter from Khan Younis, where they lived and owned a pharmacy. They have been in Mawasi for more than two months.When they Came back recently After Israeli forces withdrew from the area, Khan Younis found his pharmacy burned and looted.
Nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza were forced to flee their homes under Israeli bombing and military evacuation orders.Many had to live in tents that offered little protection against the cold and rain in the months leading up to the war, and offer them no protection Fight the hot and humid weather now.
Parents in the Gaza Strip rely on water to keep their children cool, and access to water is already difficult. Hot weather also brings insects that help spread disease.
“My children are bitten by insects and mosquitoes because there are no sanitation facilities around and sewage leaks almost everywhere,” said Mohammed Abu Hatab, a father of four, including a 7-month-old children. His family spent every day outside in the shade of a nylon tent, which traps heat and makes the tent even more unbearable.
“I had to strip the children down to their underwear,” said Mr. Abu Hatab, 33. He added: “The tents, the heat waves and the horrors of this war are a nightmare. How can my children live a healthy and safe life?”
