GAZA CITY, November 8 (Aalimi Nation) – Heavy rain and strong winds that began late on Friday flooded tens of thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, local authorities said, as aid groups urged Israel to allow shelter materials in. Israel's aid-coordination agency did not immediately respond to the accusations.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 70,000 tents were flooded within 12 hours. It reported some injuries but no deaths, and put initial damage at about $3 million. Gaza's civil defence service said it had received 1,500 emergency calls, and that three abandoned houses collapsed without causing injuries. Later statements from emergency officials gave a higher figure of more than 2,000 calls, only a fraction of which crews could answer.
Municipal and civil defence officials said they could not cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damaged equipment. They said hundreds of vehicles, including bulldozers and water-pumping trucks, were destroyed during the war. Gaza's civil defence also said more than 2,000 buildings were at risk of collapse and that at least 300,000 tents were needed; other emergency officials cited a lower need of about 200,000.
"This is the first day of rain, and of course we are already flooded," displaced resident Olfat Magdoub said. She said that during an earlier rainfall two weeks ago, her family slept for four days on blankets on the floor after rainwater soaked their bedding.
"We have no resources, no tarpaulins, no tents and no one is checking on us," another resident, Rafiq Ghattas, said as he stood barefoot in floodwater.
Ahmad Alhendawi, regional director of Save the Children International, called the situation "heartbreaking" and "entirely foreseeable". He said tents, shelter kits and fuel were waiting at Gaza's borders and blamed Israeli authorities for blocking their entry. "This is a choice, and children are paying the price," he said. Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF's special representative in Palestine, said most people were living in "terrible conditions" and called for more funding.
Hamas blamed Israel for not allowing shelters and construction materials into Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said on Friday that it had stepped up efforts to improve sanitary conditions ahead of the expected rain, in coordination with international organisations. It said four more vacuum trucks entered Gaza last week through the International Committee of the Red Cross, joining eight brought in over the previous month for sewage pumping, waste removal and water and sewage repairs.
Most of Gaza's more than two million residents have been displaced, and most now live in tent camps. A US-brokered ceasefire from last year called for eventual reconstruction, but little progress has been made. Negotiators have not agreed on terms for Hamas to disarm or for Israel to withdraw, and Israel controls about two-thirds of the territory. Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed since the war began after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
