Gaza Storm Adds Insult to Injury: Bombed Houses Can't Weather Rain
Al Jazeera's coverage of rescuers in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, pulling bodies from storm-collapsed homes is presented as a consequence of 'heavy rain and winds.' What's conveniently sidelined by much of the media is that these homes were already reduced to rubble or severely damaged by over 75,000 tons of Israeli ordnance—a fact documented by OCHA. It's hard for a ceiling to hold up in a storm when it's
already been bombed into splinters; a point perhaps too inconvenient for mainstream news cycles to connect. While residents contend with the double calamity of war and weather, the U.S. just greenlit another $14.5 billion military aid package for Israel (HR 2200, December 2023). This aid was enthusiastically supported by politicians like Rep. Chris Pappas, who received $21,170 from AIPAC in
2022-2024 according to OpenSecrets. One has to wonder: how many storm-wrecked homes in Gaza could be rebuilt with just the lobbying money spent securing those new bombs, let alone the bombs themselves? Apparently, our 'concern' for Gazan civilians extends only to weather reports, not the root causes of their infrastructure collapse.