Rains flood thousands of displaced families’ tents in Gaza
Heavy rain has flooded thousands of tents across the Gaza Strip, forcing displaced Palestinian families out into the cold as the first winter storm of the season swept through the besieged territory.
Gaza's civil defence agency said its crews received about 1,500 distress calls in just 10 hours after the rain began early Saturday, with water levels in several shelter sites rising by 30-40 cm (12-16in).
Vulnerable populations at risk
Basal said premature babies, the elderly and the sick were most at risk from the flooding. "Those living in tents are at risk of death at any moment, and of illness at any moment," he said.
The storm also brought down buildings damaged in Israel's war on the enclave that erupted in October 2023. Rescuers evacuated residents of a building in the central Nuseirat area that partially collapsed, and in northern Gaza, a wall collapsed due to heavy rainfall, injuring two people.
Widespread flooding in camps
Footage from camps in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah showed families wading through ankle-deep water, with mattresses and blankets soaked, and children standing barefoot in pools of mud and sewage.
In al-Mawasi, where more than 900,000 displaced people are sheltering, rain had been falling since Friday evening. More than 125,000 families living along the coast were at particular risk of having their tents swept away by the sea.
Critical shelter shortages
Gaza's emergency committee said 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.
Raed al-Dahshan, director of civil defence in Gaza governorate, told Al Jazeera that crews could do little once they reached flooded families. Civil Defence does not have a single tarpaulin or a single tent. We deal only with saving lives, and that is not enough.
Mohammed Salha, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, blamed Israeli restrictions on the entry of shelter materials, noting only 180 to 200 trucks were entering Gaza daily, far short of the 600 agreed under the humanitarian protocol. "We don't want to respond after the tents flood," Salha said, adding that 50,000 tents had been waiting on the Egyptian side of the border.
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