In brief
Heavy rain in Gaza on the first winter day swept through displacement camps, lifting water 30‑40 cm in several shelters and prompting 1,500 distress calls to the civil defence. The flooding forced thousands of families into the cold, with many tents damaged and an urgent call for 200,000 tents and heating supplies. Aid groups warned that Israeli restrictions are limiting delivery of essential supplies as the storm worsened, and building collapses added to the damage.
On Saturday morning, a sudden storm swept across the Gaza Strip, flooding thousands of tents and forcing displaced Palestinian families into the cold. Reports from Al Jazeera documented that the enclave’s civil defence received around 1,500 distress calls within ten hours of the rain beginning, with water levels in several shelter sites rising by 30‑40 cm.
Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera, “What we feared has actually happened. A few shelter centres were completely flooded, and everyone inside them has now been forced out into the unknown.” He warned that premature babies, the elderly and the sick were most at risk, and that “those living in tents are at risk of death at any moment, and of illness at any moment.”
"What we feared has actually happened. A few shelter centres were completely flooded, and everyone inside them has now been forced out into the unknown."
Basal added that rescuers had evacuated residents from a partially collapsed building in the central Nuseirat area, damage exacerbated by the storm’s strong winds and rainfall. In northern Gaza, the wall of another building collapsed, reportedly injuring two people, according to the Wafa news agency.
Footage taken by Al Jazeera of camps in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el‑Balah showed families wading through ankle‑deep water, mattresses and blankets soaked, and children standing barefoot in pools of mud and sewage. Al Jazeera’s reporter Nour Khaled, on the ground in Gaza City, said, "Even houses can’t hold up against this rain, so how can open plastic sheeting?"
"Even houses can’t hold up against this rain, so how can open plastic sheeting?"
According to Al Jazeera’s Rami Abu Taima, who was reporting from Khan Younis on the coast, the rain began at 10 p.m. (20:00 GMT) on Friday. He said, "People woke up to find hundreds, even thousands, of tents flooded across the Gaza Strip." He added that more than 125,000 families living along the coast were at particular risk of having their tents swept away by the sea.
"People woke up to find hundreds, even thousands, of tents flooded across the Gaza Strip."
The Gaza emergency committee has warned that more than one million displaced people face the dangers of winter, and that the territory urgently needs about 200,000 tents along with heating supplies. Aid groups noted that Israeli restrictions are limiting the delivery of essential supplies to the camps, compounding the suffering of those already living in precarious conditions.
While the storm has cleared, the aftermath remains stark. Families are forced to settle in open spaces where cold temperatures can amplify the risk of illness, and the loss of tents and winter gear poses significant health threats. The international community is urged to accelerate the delivery of essential humanitarian supplies to meet Gaza’s acute needs as the region enters a new winter season amid ongoing conflict.
