- Outbreak of influenza and cases of bedwetting among children, with no treatment in hospitals

- Umm Faras: Our tent was blown away in the middle of the night and rainwater flooded all over us.

The family sleeps on one mattress... with worn-out, tattered covers.

- Sabreen Al-Khatib: I wake up terrified by the strong wind and cold, and I am afraid of staying outdoors.

- Umm Muhammad Al-Sarsak: My tent was flooded and I don’t have enough money to buy a tarpaulin that costs more than $200.

"The tent blew up in the middle of the night and rainwater flooded us," in a tragic scene as the displaced woman, Umm Firas Khalifa, began to narrate the suffering she experiences every winter while displaced inside a tent.

She told Al-Quds.com: “After our house was bombed in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, and my three sons were martyred, and I and the rest of my family were injured, we decided to move to Deir al-Balah and set up a tent inside the displacement camps.”

Umm Firas did not know that the situation would last long, and that she would remain inside the tent for more than a year. She continues: “The tent’s tarpaulin was worn out, and the nylon that was wrapped around it was burned by the summer sun. I had to put it on the ground for us to sleep on, and I put blankets instead.”

But what was not expected was that it would rain and flood the cloth covers, she added: “At half past two in the morning it rained and flooded our tent and the tarpaulin flew away. We stayed awake all night trying to gather it to protect us from the water.”

She added: “The tarpaulin of our tent was torn, so rainwater was getting in. I had to put plates and cooking pots in them so that the water would run off, not to mention the mud that I slipped in many times, and I had to have surgery on my foot.”

As for the covers and bedding, this is where the biggest disaster lies. Umm Firas says: “We don’t have enough bedding. My husband, I, and two of my children sleep on one mattress with one cover.” She continues with tears on her face: “We are dying, and no one asks about us.”

And about the most difficult situations that Umm Firas was unable to face? She answers: “When my little child, who was no more than three years old, ran to my arms at night and told me that my arms made him feel warm, but I don’t know how my arms would warm him?!”

The same situation is experienced by the displaced Sabreen Al-Khatib, who told “I” and “Al-Quds” Dot Com: “I wake up in the middle of the night terrified by the strong wind and cold. I am afraid that the tent will fly away and we will be left in the open without shelter.”

Not only were the tents flooded, but influenza spread among the children, and there was no treatment in the hospitals, not to mention the uncontrolled urination that afflicted them due to the severe cold.

She continued: “My children got sick, and I couldn’t find a treatment for them, especially since they wake up terrified at night from the cold, and I try to warm them up and calm them down, but it’s in vain, not to mention that when it rains they run away into the tent.”

She added: "The children now run away from the rain inside the tent. They used to love it and play under it, but now it has become a source of terror for them."

She cries over her tragic situation and asks, “When the tent blows away, where will we go?” She adds, “We will remain in the open without shelter.”

As for Umm Muhammad Al-Sarsak, she is no easier than her predecessors. She stayed up all night trying to sew her torn and worn-out tent, especially since she has been living in it for more than a year.

She told Al-Quds.com: “My entire tent was flooded. I tried to put pieces of sponge inside the openings, but even through them, the rainwater entered us.”

She added: “Because our tent is covered with covers, it is easy for the tent to get wet and flooded, and I do not have enough money to buy a tarpaulin, which costs more than $200, and I can hardly find a living for my ten children.”

For most of the displaced people living in tents, winter has become a nightmare, due to the severity of the suffering they endure. Umm Muhammad says: “If it had been cold again, we would have left our tent using a fishing oar.”