No comfort and little shelter as nightmare of winter becomes reality in Gaza

Tens of thousands of people sheltering on Gaza's exposed Mediterranean coastline face harsh winter conditions with inadequate shelter, food, and fuel, as temperatures plunge in the devastated territory and a series of storms destroy their makeshift tents.

- Malak A Tantesh in al-Mawasi and Jason Burke

In recent weeks, bad weather has forced hundreds living in the coastal strip of Gaza around al-Mawasi to evacuate their shelters, ruining cooking utensils, clothes, stocks of food, and precious firewood. Al-Mawasi was designated a "humanitarian zone" by Israeli military offensives and is packed with people displaced during 13 months of fighting, airstrikes, and artillery bombardment.

Hisham al-Haddad, 30, described how he had been surprised by a sudden rush of sea water that crashed over his tent and those of his neighbours last week. His family of eight had been living near Deir al Balah on the coast in the humanitarian zone since fleeing the Israeli offensive into the southern city of Rafah in May.

"We had no choice but to set up our tent right on the beach sand due to lack of space, but there were two lines of tents in front of us before the sea. All of them were swallowed completely by the sea in the storm and high tide. It was like a tsunami. I just grabbed my children and ran," al-Haddad said.

"Everyone was busy saving himself. The waves swept out some people and children, but they were all rescued. Everyone was screaming and crying for help. I wanted to go to help others, but I was busy saving myself and my family."