GAZA — Heavy rain flooded tens of thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in encampments across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, washing away shelters and soaking blankets and mattresses, local authorities told Reuters.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 70,000 tents had been flooded in the past 12 hours. Tens of thousands of displaced people were affected and some were injured, the office said, though no fatalities had been reported.
The territory’s civil defence service said it had received 1,500 distress calls from displaced residents. Three abandoned houses collapsed, it added, without causing injuries.
At one encampment in Gaza City, people tried to repair their tents while others piled sand at the entrances to keep water out. Some were getting their children out of flooded tents.
Olfat Magdoub, a Gaza resident, tried in vain to sweep water away from her tent.
“This is the first day of rain, and of course we are already flooded. What will happen if it rains again the next day? This is only the first day and we’re already overwhelmed,”
“Two weeks ago when it rained, I swear to God, I spent four days sleeping on blankets spread on the floor because the rainwater had flooded the bedding. Same now, the mattresses are wet so we sleep on the ground.”
Crews Say They Cannot Cope
Municipal and civil defence officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damage to equipment. They said Israel had destroyed hundreds of vehicles during its war against Hamas, including bulldozers and others used to pump water.
Most of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million has been displaced by the war, and most people now live in tent camps.
Hamas blamed Israel for not allowing shelters and construction materials into Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, did not immediately comment on the accusations.
In a statement on Friday, COGAT said it had stepped up efforts to improve sanitary conditions across Gaza before the heavy rain, which had been expected, working with international organisations. Four additional vacuum trucks entered Gaza this week through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the agency said, joining eight others brought in over the past month to support sewage pumping, weekly waste removal and repairs to water and sewage infrastructure.
Shelter Stocks Far Below Need
The flooding came after United Nations warnings that damaged drainage and sewage systems, along with shortages of fuel and spare parts, were undermining Gaza’s ability to cope with heavy rainfall.
As of Nov. 1, people in Gaza needed about 121,000 tents, 561,000 tarpaulins and 1.7 million mattresses to prepare for the cold and rainy season, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Humanitarian shelter partners had only about 2,800 tents available inside the territory.
Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF’s representative for Palestine, told the BBC that aid workers were being stopped in the street by people pleading for help. “It’s just horrific and they’re absolutely desperate,” he said.
“We have no resources, no tarpaulins, no tents and no one is checking on us,” said Rafiq Ghattas, a displaced Gaza resident standing barefoot in a large pool of rainwater.
Rebuilding Has Barely Begun
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire last year called for the eventual reconstruction of Gaza, but little progress has been made. Negotiators have failed to agree on terms for Hamas to disarm or for Israel to withdraw its troops, which control about two-thirds of the territory and from which residents have been ordered to leave.
Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its assault on the territory after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel in attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
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