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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | ||
| Gaza's newly displaced cram into packed UN schools | ||
| 2014-07-30 | ||
Dozens of displaced Gaza families flooded into a UN school early on Tuesday after Israel warned them to leave their homes, struggling to set up camp in a cramped, dirty courtyard.
Rubbish piled up outside the school walls, filling the air with a foul stench, as women used brooms and muddy water to clean up their new accommodation — festering classrooms packed with dirty mattresses and bedclothes.
The warning was sent by text message and automated voice calls to hundreds of thousands of people living in the northern areas of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanun and Jabaliya, as well as to those living in Zeitun and Shejaiya to the south and east of Gaza City. Similar messages sent to other districts earlier this month sent more than 200,000 people fleeing for safety, UN figures show. “The messages said to go to Gaza City, but it’s not that simple — we’ve no relatives there and nowhere to stay,” said the 46-year-old who is a Palestinian Authority policeman and father of six. Abed said some 200 to 300 people from his street alone had simply packed up and left — terrified of getting swept up in violence that has killed more than 1,100 people, mostly civilians, and razed entire neighbourhoods across the tiny coastal territory. “Almost the whole of Beit Lahiya has come here. There are no rooms left. People are having to live in yards,” said Samer Kilani, from Beit Hanun. With several families to a classroom, the displaced have overflowed in corridors and out into the courtyard, where mothers hang blankets from awnings, trying to create some shade from the scorching sun. “It’s not a clean, healthy environment,” said Abed. “The kids are getting sick from lack of clean drinking water. There’s only a small supply, so most people haven’t washed for days.” And food supplies are becoming short. Israel’s army has blamed Hamas for civilian deaths, saying its fighters deliberately hide in residential areas, turning them into “human shields”. The army admitted shelling a UN school in nearby Beit Hanun on Thursday, in an incident medics said killed 15 people. The military says the school was empty at the time, but Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA insists it was still being used as a shelter by hundreds of people. UNRWA says it is currently sheltering 182,604 displaced Gazans who are staying in 83 of its schools, which sometimes have to be vacated for security reasons. And given the ongoing fighting, delivering food to the displaced can be “particularly difficult”, agency spokesman Christopher Gunness said. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Hmm.... now who voted in Hamas again? Seriously - votes have consequences (as we are finding out over here with Obumbles). aka: Karma's a bitch! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-07-30 17:05 |
| #2 UNRWA says it is currently sheltering 182,604 displaced Gazans , several million rounds of ammo, 10,000 rockets and 4 HQ facilities. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-07-30 15:29 |
| #1 It was a dark and stormy news article: ...struggling to set up camp in a cramped, dirty courtyard...packed to overflowing...filling the air with a foul stench (as opposed to a fresh and flowery stench)...festering classrooms (Run! The classrooms are alive and pustulating!)... |
| Posted by: Enver Huporong5213 2014-07-30 13:10 |