Category World News

Storm Byron is threatening to heap new miseries on Palestinians in Gaza, with families making distress calls from flooded tents and hundreds of others fleeing their shelters in search of dry ground as the fierce winter storm lashes heavy rains on the besieged territory.

Officials warned Wednesday that the storm was forecast to bring flash floods, strong winds and hail until Friday, conditions expected to wreak havoc in a territory in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people live in tents, temporary structures, or damaged buildings after two years of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Humanitarian workers said Israeli restrictions on the entry of tents, tools to repair water and sewage systems have left Gaza poorly equipped to respond to the storm, and called on the international community to pressure the Netanyahu government to urgently allow in supplies.

In the southern city of Rafah, the Palestinian Civil Defence said its teams had already received distress calls from displacement camps, with families reporting “flooded tents and families trapped inside by heavy rains”.

“Despite limited resources and a lack of necessary equipment, our teams are working tirelessly to reach those in need and provide assistance,” the rescue agency said on Telegram.

Footage posted on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed Palestinians shovelling a ditch around tents in a desperate attempt to create barriers that would prevent them from flooding.

Displacement camps at risk

Nearly 850,000 people sheltering in 761 displacement sites face the highest risk of flooding, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Flooding has previously been recorded at more than 200 of the highest-risk sites, affecting more than 140,000 people, the office said.

Previous storms had contaminated displacement sites with sewage and solid waste, swept away families’ tents and driven them out of makeshift shelters.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said that UN  agencies and local authorities were warning that any significant rainfall could have devastating consequences for Gaza’s population, with the displacement camps built on barren, open terrain that would be highly susceptible to flooding.

The tents available to people were typically flimsy, unreinforced and often torn, he said, offering negligible protection from heavy rains, which were likely to seriously damage whatever possessions families had left.

Risk of water contamination, disease

Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs network, said Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and equipment had left Gaza ill-equipped to deal with the storm.

He said only 40,000 tents, out of a needed 300,000, had been allowed in, while tools that would likely be needed to repair sewage systems and water networks were also restricted.

Flooding would bring a serious risk of sewage and solid waste contaminating drinking water or food supplies, raising the risk of diseases in the densely populated Strip, where 2.2 million people are crammed into just 43 percent of the territory, while the remaining 57 percent remains under Israeli military control.

“If Israel were to allow the entrance of supplies, things would be different. But for now, it has done all it can to make life more complicated for Palestinians,” Shawa said.

Oxfam humanitarian response adviser Chris McIntosh agreed, telling Al Jazeera that the people of Gaza were bracing for a “very tragic situation”.

“Persistent bureaucracy prevented us from bringing in adequate dwellings for people in Gaza,” McIntosh said. “The Israelis have not permitted tents to enter Gaza for many months. The only thing they’re allowing at this point is some tarpaulin, which isn’t going to do much for people who need proper shelter.”

He said Palestinians were being forced to live in “deplorable conditions”, with well more than 50 percent of the population living in tents.

He anticipated many would attempt to find dry ground inside bombed-out buildings that were at heightened risk of collapse amid the forecast heavy rains and winds.

Families flee flooding risk

Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned that vulnerable groups, including newborn children, are at particular risk from the incoming winter storm.

About 200 families were expected to arrive at a new displacement site in eastern Khan Younis in the south of the Strip, fleeing a heightened risk of flooding in their present location, he said.

“These households made the decision to move given the impact of the frequent rains and the risk of flooding,” he said.

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, told Al Jazeera that about 288,000 Palestinian families were without shelter as Storm Byron bore down on the enclave, and issued a call to the international community to pressure Israel to allow in supplies to help respond to the storm.

“We are issuing an urgent appeal to the world, [United States] President Trump and the [United Nations] Security Council to pressure the Israeli occupation,” he said.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, condemned global inaction as families in Gaza braced for the storm.

“Palestinians in Gaza are literally left alone, freezing and starving in the winter storm,” she posted on X.

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Erling Haaland scored his 34th goal for club and country this season to give Manchester City a 2-1 win at Real Madrid and leave Xabi Alonso’s position as coach of the Spanish giants in grave danger.

Without injured superstar Kylian Mbappe, Madrid took the lead on Wednesday through Rodrygo, but Nico O’Reilly and a Haaland penalty secured Pep Guardiola’s City the three points.

Spanish media reported in the lead-up to the game that a defeat would seal Alonso’s fate as Madrid coach, although his team’s performance was creditable, despite the eventual outcome at a frustrated Bernabeu stadium.

The record 15-time Champions League winners have now won just two of their last eight matches across all competitions, and face a battle for a place in the top eight of the league phase table.

Alonso was forced to leave his team’s top scorer, Mbappe, on the bench, saying it would have been “a risk” to use him amid knee discomfort, and starting 21-year-old striker Gonzalo Garcia instead.

Madrid knocked out City in last season’s Champions League playoff round in February, as Mbappe scored four of their goals in the 6-3 aggregate win.

This was the 15th meeting between these sides, in what has become a modern Champions League classic, and it started at lightning speed, with Vinicius Junior heavily involved in the opening exchanges.

Madrid’s Brazilian forward was felled by Matheus Nunes with the referee pointing to the spot, but a VAR review showed the contact was outside the area.

Fede Valverde’s ferocious free kick was deflected wide by O’Reilly, before Vinicius dinked just wide of goal after Rodrygo found him with a perfect low cross, which coaxed City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma off his line.

It was deserved when the hosts took the lead in the 28th minute, with Rodrygo finishing a move started by Alvaro Carreras at the other end of the pitch.

Madrid broke forward, and Jude Bellingham fed the Brazilian, who finished early and low, across Donnarumma and into the far corner.

It was his first goal in 33 games, ending a barren and frustrating spell for Rodrygo, and also his fifth against City. In 2022, his stunning late brace helped Madrid defeat Guardiola’s side in the semifinals.

Madrid’s opening half-hour was close to perfect, but City pulled level out of the blue after a mistake from Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

The keeper could not hold on to Josko Gvardiol’s header, and O’Reilly gratefully tapped home the loose ball in the 35th minute.

Guardiola was not pleased with his team’s first-half display, but they went in ahead after Antonio Rudiger held Haaland in the back, and City were awarded a penalty.

The Norwegian striker, who will face Mbappe’s France at the World Cup next summer, sent Courtois the wrong way from the spot.

Courtois made amends for his earlier error with a fine double save to thwart Haaland and Rayan Cherki before the break, and Jeremy Doku after it.

England international Bellingham might have levelled for Madrid, but chipped over after Rodrygo cleverly slipped him in.

Alonso brought on Arda Guler for Garcia and shifted Bellingham into a central attacking role, of the kind he enjoyed under Carlo Ancelotti in his spectacular first season with Madrid.

The Basque coach also turned to youngster Endrick, whom he has hardly utilised at all since arriving, and the 19-year-old headed inches over the crossbar with five minutes to go.

Madrid were short of ideas in the second half and may look to another coach for new ones in the coming days

Haaland told TNT Sports that it was a tough place to come and get a result.

“We had lots of chances, but the game was chaotic, and we struggled to control it,” he said. “These are the games you want to play, and with this new format, you get to play more UCL games. I like it.”

Guardiola said his side is still in transition and is not yet equipped to win the Champions League.

“In February, we will be much better, but one wrong pass and we lose today,” he said.

“The players made an incredible effort, and the spirit is unbelievable, but there is still some way to go.”

Bellingham defended Alonso after the game, saying he has a “great relationship” with the Madrid boss.

“After a run of draws, we thought we would go on a run after that, but we know we need to pick up again and take it on the chin,” Bellingham said.

United States Congressman Randy Fine, an ally of President Donald Trump, has suggested that the Palestinian people should be destroyed, boasting that he is not afraid to be called Islamophobic.

During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Fine – who has a long history of Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian statements – cited the myth that Israelis are banned from going to some areas in the occupied West Bank due to “apartheid” imposed against Israeli settlers.

In reality, the Israeli military, which controls the Palestinian territory, has signs warning settlers against entering Palestinian towns for safety concerns.

But settlers, often armed and protected by Israeli forces, regularly storm and ransack Palestinian villages. At least two US citizens have been killed in settler attacks this year.

“When you are dealing with a group of people who continually call for the destruction of the State of Israel, who are OK with signs that say, ‘Jews may not enter these areas’, we want to be free of Jews, how do you make peace with that?” Fine asked Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, during the hearing.

“How do you create a long-term solution with that? Or is there another way that we have to go?”

Klein – who previously used the slur “filthy Arab” and called for profiling Muslims in the US – said Islam needs to undergo a “reformation” and accept “Israel as a Jewish state”.

“Nobody wants to talk about it. They’re afraid of being called Islamophobic,” Klein said.

Fine interrupted, saying, “I’m not afraid of that.”

The Republican US congressman, who represents a district in the state of Florida, then doubled down on his volatile rhetoric.

“I don’t know how you make peace with those who seek your destruction. I think you destroy them first,” he said.

A United Nations convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, including killing, causing harm, preventing births, forcibly transferring children, and imposing life conditions to cause destruction”.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 70,400 Palestinians and turned nearly the entire territory into rubble, aimed to destroy the Palestinian people, leading rights groups and UN investigators have said.

Abed Ayoub, executive director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), slammed Fine, calling him “the Temu version of Benjamin Netanyahu,” referring to the discount online retailer and the Israeli prime minister.

“He’s hated by Republicans and Democrats for his policy of Israel first, Israel second, Israel third — Americans nowhere. He’s basically a foreign spokesperson at this point, and not even a good one,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

“His unhinged, genocidal rhetoric shows his desperation as he tries to appease his bosses back in Tel Aviv.”

This isn’t the first time that Fine – who was elected to Congress earlier this year with the endorsements of Trump and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – has made inflammatory statements about Palestinians.

In 2021, Fine commented on a social post with a photo of a dead Palestinian child asking him how he sleeps at night with: “Quite well, actually! Thanks for the pic!”

Earlier this year, he wrote “starve away” in response to a report about the deadly hunger in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.

Last year, Fine lauded the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US activist who was fatally shot by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank.

“Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerror ist. #FireAway,” Fine wrote in a social media post.

He has also previously argued that fear of Muslims is warranted. “While many Muslims are not terrorists, they are the radicals, not the mainstream,” he wrote in a post on X in 2023. “Now is the time to speak truth, not bathe in political correctness that will kill us.”

Despite such comments, Fine – who refers to himself as the Hebrew Hammer – has been a regular guest on some mainstream media outlets, including CNN.

Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), called out Republicans in Congress and Trump for failing to denounce Fine.

“It’s one thing to read disgusting, racist, anti-Palestinian, anti-Black, and xenophobic vile on social media 24-7, but we’re not supposed to hear it from actual elected officials in this country,” Abudayyeh told Al Jazeera.