In brief
Al Jazeera on Monday reports that early‑Saturday rain has inundated thousands of tents across Gaza, with water levels reaching 30‑40 cm. Civil defence received 1,500 calls in ten hours, and aid groups warn that Israeli restrictions are hampering the delivery of essential supplies.
Heavy rain that began early Saturday has flooded thousands of tents across the Gaza Strip, forcing displaced Palestinian families into the cold, Al Jazeera reports, citing civil defence that received about 1,500 distress calls in a 10‑hour span.
Water levels in several relief sites have climbed 30‑40 cm, forcing residents to abandon their tents. Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera that a few shelter centers were completely flooded and that “those living in tents are at risk of death at any moment, and of illness at any moment.” He added that premature babies, the elderly and the sick were most at risk.
In the central Nuseirat area, robosurfing crews evacuated residents of a partially collapsed building that was damaged in Israel’s war. Further north, a building wall collapsed in the wind and rain, injuring two people, according to the Wafa news agency.
According to footage posted by reporters in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el‑Balah, families were seen wading through ankle‑deep water, mattresses and blankets soaked, and children standing barefoot in mud.
Nour Khaled, who reported from a camp in Gaza City, said:
Even houses can’t hold up against this rain, so how can open plastic sheeting?
Rami Abu Taima, reporting from Khan Younis, said people woke up to find hundreds, even thousands, of tents flooded across the Strip, and added that more than 125,000 families living along the coast were at risk of having their tents swept away by the sea.
The Gaza emergency committee estimates that over one million displaced people face the dangers of winter, and that the territory urgently needs about 200,000 tents and heating supplies.
Aid groups warn that Israeli restrictions on the delivery of supplies have made it difficult to respond to the urgent needs of the displaced.
