The forced displacement of over 1.9 million people in Gaza confines them to areas with extreme exposure to climate hazards.
By Marco Lopez
There is no safe ground in Gaza. This is according to a report published earlier this month by SARI Global, a climate think tank that provides real-time climate risk analysis. Its report found that the coming winter season could bring numerous and compounding climate threats to the already vulnerable population in Gaza.
Winter rains forecast between 450 to 500 mm pose a risk of inundating already overflowing sewage ponds. About half a million tons of waste lie uncollected in Gaza at this time, which includes hazardous medical waste.
Tents currently housing most of Gaza’s population are pitched directly on the bare, flood-prone ground. In a functioning system, run-off would be absorbed or drained, but in Gaza, it will go directly into surface flooding – affecting shelters, belongings, and food supplies.
This mix of conditions, the conflict-driven displacement and increasing climate threats creates a multilayered humanitarian emergency that could become a crisis if early and meaningful intervention to support adaptation in Gaza is not taken.
The people need action to support adaptation and preparedness that will save lives, reduce costs, and prevent Gaza’s displacement crisis from evolving into a climate-driven emergency.
Since October 2023, Gaza and the Palestinian people have undergone massive changes.
“While official figures often cite 250,000 to 350,000 people remaining in Gaza City, assessments by SARI Global sources suggest the number is closer to 200,000,” the report states.
The sea and even weak gusts of wind pose dangers. Even in the absence of major storms, tidal surges can still push inland, and gusts as weak as 10 km/h can destabilize tents. Vulnerability to rainfall, runoff, sewage overflow, hazardous waste, and wind creates a situation where every storm has the potential to become a disaster, the report states.
The international community must act now to prevent the plethora of consequences that inaction can cause, including waterborne disease outbreaks, further displacement of Palestinian people, and, worst of all, direct fatalities.
