The devastating floods in Libya brought a new tragedy to a Palestinian family who settled there, after fleeing the Gaza Strip during the 1967 war with Israel.
Two members of the Abu Amra family, father and son, died, and 12 others are still missing after Storm Daniel destroyed two dams, washed away buildings and destroyed up to a quarter of the city of Derna in eastern Libya.
Fayez Abu Amra, 54, said in a tent he set up to receive condolences in Deir al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip, "It was two days and we were worried until we were sure that there were dead and there were survivors, but the calamity that happened to an entire people eased the pain a little, but nevertheless it was a very big shock for us."
On Wednesday, neighbors and friends flocked to the tent to offer condolences to the family.
Fayez Abu Amra, a lecturer in Islamic studies at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, is among family members who survived four wars with Israel, but some of those who moved to Libya in search of a better life died in a natural disaster.
"It is a big shock to us, from the Abu Amra family, there are 12 people missing, and we ask those responsible to know their conditions, whether they are alive or dead," he told Reuters.
An elderly Palestinian woman shows pictures of relatives who died in Libya on her cell phone (Reuters)
The tragedy is compounded by the difficulty of returning the bodies to the Palestinian Strip for proper burial.
The Abu Amra family is a Palestinian who fled or were forced to flee their homes in the 1948 war and the declaration of Israel, and ended up as refugees in Gaza. Some of the older relatives left Gaza during the 1967 war and became refugees for the second time in Libya.
Fayez Abu Amra added, "Now it is a catastrophe and a calamity that happened to the Libyan people, and we as Palestinians were affected by the fire of alienation and migration, as well as the fire of the catastrophe that occurred and thousands died, and we as Palestinians are also present in this Nakba and died from it, and therefore two catastrophe occurred, the Nakba of migration and the Nakba of drowning because of the hurricane that occurred in Libya."
Derna was destroyed when floods from the storm knocked down two dams, sending water through the city centre early on Monday, washing away entire areas into the sea.
The death toll reported by Libyan officials varied, though all in the thousands. The number of missing is estimated at 10,<>.
Ahmed al-Deek, a Palestinian foreign ministry official, said about 50,<> Palestinians lived in Libya, at least a third of them in the most devastated eastern regions.
He said 23 Palestinians had died in Libya since the floods, and efforts were underway to locate dozens of others who were still missing.
He added that a Palestinian rescue team arrived in Libya on Thursday and will support Libyan and international teams in rescue operations, providing aid and support.