Torrential winter rains have lashed the Gaza Strip, creating dire conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in makeshift camps. The downpours over the weekend flooded tent encampments with ankle-deep water, soaking belongings and collapsing shelters already frayed by months of conflict.
Nowhere to Escape the Flooding
In the southern city of Khan Younis, the scene was one of profound distress. Blankets were soaked through, and simple clay ovens used for cooking were swamped. Children wearing flip-flops waded through cold puddles as adults used shovels, tin cans, and their bare hands to bail water from their tents or pry collapsed shelters from the mud.
Majdoleen Tarabein, displaced from Rafah, described the chaos. "Puddles formed, and there was a bad smell," she said. "The tent flew away. We don't know what to do or where to go." She and her family attempted to wring muddy blankets dry by hand.
Another displaced woman in Khan Younis, Eman Abu Riziq, recounted waking to find her tent flooded. "These are the mattresses. They are all completely soaked," she said, adding that her family is still grieving her husband's death less than two weeks prior.
The pleas from the camps are desperate and direct. Fatima Abu Omar, struggling to prop up a collapsing shelter, asked, "Where are the mediators? We don't want food. We don't want anything. We are exhausted. We just want mattresses and covers."
Mounting Death Toll and Inadequate Shelter
The health consequences are severe. According to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, at least 12 people, including a 2-week-old infant, have died since December 13 from hypothermia or weather-related collapses of war-damaged homes.
Emergency workers warn people not to stay in damaged buildings, but with much of the territory in ruins, alternatives are scarce. A United Nations estimate from July suggested that almost 80% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.
The broader human cost of the war remains staggering. The Health Ministry reports that since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza. The overall Palestinian death toll from the war now stands at least 71,266. The ministry's counts, maintained by medical professionals, are viewed as generally reliable internationally, though they do not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The conflict began with the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Ceasefire Stalls as Aid Falls Short
Against this backdrop of suffering, diplomatic efforts continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled for an expected meeting on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase, which took effect on October 10, was intended to bring a surge in humanitarian aid, including shelter.
However, aid deliveries are falling far short of the amounts stipulated in the U.S.-brokered agreement, according to aid organizations and an Associated Press analysis. The Israeli military body overseeing aid said 4,200 trucks with aid entered Gaza in the past week, along with sanitation trucks, tents, and winter clothing, but refused to detail the number of tents.
International aid groups say the need vastly outstrips the supply. The Shelter Cluster coalition reports that since the ceasefire began, only around 72,000 tents and 403,000 tarps have entered Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the top U.N. aid group in Gaza, underscored the crisis on social media: "People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins. There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required."
The progress on the ceasefire has slowed. Israel states it refuses to move to the next phase while the remains of the final hostage are still in Gaza. Hamas claims the widespread destruction hampers efforts to locate remains. The next phase faces significant challenges, including:
- The deployment of an international stabilization force.
- The creation of a technocratic governing body for Gaza.
- The disarmament of Hamas.
- Further Israeli troop withdrawals.
Both sides continue to accuse each other of violating the truce.
