Daijiworld Media Network - Gaza

Gaza, Nov 15: The season’s first heavy rains have plunged thousands of displaced families in Gaza into fresh hardship, as makeshift tents across camps in Gaza City and Khan Yunis flooded overnight, leaving residents struggling to keep out the cold and water.

At one camp in Gaza City, a barefoot Niven Abu Zreina worked tirelessly to sweep away streams of rainwater pouring into her tent. “I’ve been trying since morning,” she said, her hijab soaked and clinging to her face. “Rainwater soaked our clothes and mattress.” A relative beside her kept sweeping, also barefoot and drenched.

Gaza’s civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the downpour had overwhelmed thousands of temporary shelters erected since the war displaced the population. “Since dawn, we have received hundreds of appeals from displaced citizens whose homes and tents have been flooded,” he said, adding that even the available tents were already far from enough.

Despite a recent truce easing some restrictions on humanitarian supplies, Israeli limits on essential materials — including specific poles and equipment needed for proper shelters — continue to leave Gazans exposed. With the UN estimating that 92 percent of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed, needs remain overwhelming.

Across camps near the Mediterranean coast, residents tried desperately to keep water out. A man poked at a tarp with a broom handle to release rainwater pooling above his tent; elsewhere, children waded through ankle-deep puddles in low-lying areas.

Camp volunteer Enaam Al-Batrikhi said she felt helpless as families sought assistance. “How could I possibly help them?” she asked, her own tent waterlogged. Another woman, Nura Abu el-Kass, said all her bedding and clothes were soaked. “My son sent me this tent, but it doesn’t protect us. What am I supposed to do?”

In Khan Yunis, Mohammed Shabat and his family of seven faced the cold in a tent set up inside a cemetery. “This tent does not protect us from the cold or the rain,” he said. His wife Alaa worried about their children as she sat beside a makeshift stove. “A tent is not a safe place to live. The cold wind penetrates at night.”

Night temperatures in Gaza, which drop to 15–20°C, have become another challenge for displaced families struggling without proper shelter, heating, or nutrition as winter approaches.