Winter In Gaza, Black Friday Shopping, Third Party Politics

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What is the situation in Gaza as winter approaches?

Rob Schmitz 0:02
Aid groups warn lives will be lost in Gaza as winter settles in and people don't have protection against harsh elements and seasonal illnesses.
Unidentified Speaker (Brief Interjection) 0:09
Too little aid is coming in, and of that aid, a fraction is really distributed.
Rob Schmitz 0:14
I'm Rob Schmitz, and this is Up First from NPR News. It's Black Friday. As more people say they're tightening their budgets, this is expected to be a record-breaking holiday shopping season. So what's motivating people to spend and who are they actually shopping for? And support for third parties declined in this year's election.
Unidentified Speaker (Brief Interjection) 0:34
I personally did not feel a lot of support from the national party. I felt like there was a lot of antagonism. What's next for people who want options beyond the two-party system?
Rob Schmitz 0:42
Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Israel and Lebanon agreed on a ceasefire this week to pause more than a year of fighting. But in Gaza, Israeli airstrikes continue to pound the territory, where more than 40,000 people have been killed, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry there. And now people in Gaza have this to contend with. Winter has arrived, and most families don't have a home or shelter. Joining us to discuss the latest in Gaza is NPR's international correspondent, Aya Batraoui, who's based in Dubai. Hey, Aya.

How are aid groups responding to the crisis in Gaza?

Aya Batraoui 1:22
Hi, Rob.
Rob Schmitz 1:24
So, Aya, temperatures dropped into the 40s Fahrenheit at night in Gaza this week, and it began to rain. How are people surviving?
Aya Batraoui 1:33
Well, Rob, many people are hardly surviving. And aid groups warn that this winter will claim even more lives from things like malnutrition, hyperthermia, flu, and other less visible consequences of this war. NPR's producer Anas Baba met with families in Gaza who are on the very edge of survival. He went to a strip of coastline called Moesi after a night of rain, and he found families covered in seawater. The few things that they owned, some clothes, pots and pans, were buried in the sand by lashing wind and rain. Now, for months, thousands of families were forced to live here right at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea because most of Gaza is under Israeli military evacuation order, leaving just this stretch of coast all that's left.
Rob Schmitz 2:15
That sounds terrible. I mean, what do people have to protect themselves with?
Aya Batraoui 2:19
Well, not very much. I mean, families were able to survive the grueling summer in flimsy tents, but winter is proving impossible. Nidal Abdul Qatati's tent was made out of used flower bags and some wooden sticks, and he tried to cover it with extra tarping to prepare for winter, but then this happened. So he tells Anas that his children erupted into screams around two in the morning. Waves had crashed into their tent, pulling their blankets and things out to sea. And he says his kids were being swallowed by the sea and being pulled by the tide too. And his three-year-old daughter was crying all through the night after he pulled her ashore. And with no idea where they can go next, he says, where are our human rights?
Rob Schmitz 3:01
So, Aya, why is it that people don't have proper shelter when aid groups have had months to prepare for winter?
Aya Batraoui 3:08
Well, I asked aid workers this question, and here was the answer.
Unidentified Speaker (Brief Interjection) 3:11
Too little aid is coming in, and of that aid, a fraction is really distributed.
Aya Batraoui 3:18
So that's Jan Egeland. He's the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Now this is the main group in Gaza in charge of shelters and tents. He was in Gaza this month and he says that the destruction from airstrikes has left the entire territory in ruins. Now Israel's military says it is facilitating a humanitarian response to prepare for winter in Gaza that it has allowed tons of aid in. But Egeland says at the rate Israel is allowing in tents and other aid, it will take at least two years to get the supplies in needed just to cover people for this winter. And Rob Eglin says of the few hundred tents they have been able to get into Gaza, many are damaged by the time they arrive or they end up stolen by armed gangs that have sprung up near Gaza's border with Israel. And these looters attacked a food aid convoy of around 100 UN trucks last week, taking everything.

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