GAZA — Winter rains have finally arrived in Gaza, bringing new challenges for the besieged enclave’s two million people, who have already suffered two years of Israeli genocide and now face a fragile ceasefire repeatedly violated by Israel.
Over the past several nights, heavy rain and strong winds have battered displacement camps across the Gaza Strip. Families sheltering in tents made of plastic sheets, fabric, and salvaged materials watched helplessly as floodwaters rushed through their shelters, turning the ground into thick mud and soaking what little belongings they have left.
“This is the third week we have been exposed to storms,” said Umm Khaled, a displaced mother of four sheltering in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. “Every night we stay awake, afraid the tent will collapse or the children will freeze. There is nowhere else to go.”
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 16 people have died in recent weeks due to cold weather and collapsing buildings, including four children. Many of the structures that collapsed were already severely damaged by Israeli airstrikes and could not withstand the heavy rain and strong winds. In several cases, residents were trapped under the rubble, while others were injured or killed.
More than 27,000 tents housing displaced families have been destroyed or swept away by flooding and powerful winds, affecting over 250,000 people across Gaza, the Gaza Civil Defense said.
In one flooded camp in Khan Younis, Ahmad Yasin, a displaced Palestinian father, stood beside the remains of his tent after it was washed away overnight.
“We are flooded. Where is the world? Where are the mediators?” he told Quds News Network. “We are drowning. What did we do to deserve this miserable life?”
Another displaced man in Gaza City, Abu Youssef Sada, tried to salvage wet blankets from the mud. “We escaped bombs, but now the rain is killing us,” he said. “There is no protection, no aid, no dignity. The children cry all night from the cold.”
Israel’s two-year war has destroyed more than 80 percent of the structures across Gaza, forcing hundreds of thousands of families to take refuge in flimsy tents or overcrowded makeshift shelters.
Now, the humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate as winter deepens amid an Israeli blockade despite the ceasefire. With limited access to shelter materials, fuel, and medical care, displaced Palestinians fear that the coming weeks will bring even greater hardship.
Humanitarian groups have immediately urged Israel to allow unimpeded deliveries of aid to Gaza.
But the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which the UN says is best suited to distribute supplies in the territory, says the Israeli government has blocked it from bringing aid directly into Gaza.
“People have reportedly died due to the collapse of damaged buildings where families were sheltering. Children have reportedly died from exposure to the cold,” UNRWA said on Tuesday.
“This must stop. Aid must be allowed in at scale, now.” — QNN
