Unfortunately, Gaza’s first major winter storm has flooded tens of thousands of already-shattered tents, leaving displaced Palestinian families struggling to find dry shelter. During the first week of November, heavy rain swept through crowded camps, soaking mattresses, blankets, and clothes while innocent children sheltered from cold winds under leaking roofs. For families who have already lost their homes to Israeli bombardment, even a temporary escape from the rain has become extremely difficult.
The damage is not confined to the camps. Buildings weakened by previous strikes by Israel are also at risk of collapse. Moreover, Gaza’s already devastated drainage network cannot carry away floodwater effectively. The storm has exposed another layer of the Israeli genocide that humanitarian agencies had warned about for weeks.
Tens of Thousands of Tents Flooded Within Hours
Around 70,000 tents were flooded within just 12 hours on November 7. Gaza’s Civil Defence teams received more than 1,500 emergency calls in 10 hours, as water rose by 30 to 40 centimeters at several displacement sites.
The flooding affected numerous camps in Gaza City, Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis. Families had to use buckets and sand to keep water out, but fragile tents offered little protection against the wind and rain. Three houses collapsed, while other accounts described injuries from falling walls.
For example, at al-Mina camp in northern Gaza, a woman, Rana Adnan Hmeida, described trying to keep her two-month-old daughter warm after rain soaked the family’s blankets and clothing. Her experience shows how quickly a storm can strip an already genocide-displaced household of its few remaining essentials.
Genocide-Damaged Buildings Offer No Safe Escape
A tent may be flooded, but returning to a damaged apartment is not necessarily safer. Israeli relentless bombardment has left thousands of buildings with unstable walls, exposed ceilings and weakened structures.
For instance, in Nuseirat, 54-year-old Nasser al-Hajj has continued living in an apartment damaged by a heinous Israeli strike in September 2025. According to the condition of her apartment, debris from upper floors left an opening in the ceiling, and an engineer also warned that the building remained critically unsafe. But there was no other option for her except to live there. So, during the storm, he moved his children to a neighbor’s home as debris fell.
The UN’s October assessment estimated that approximately 44,000 people were living in more than 2,300 structurally unsafe buildings. More than 4,000 damaged buildings were assessed as potentially requiring partial or complete demolition due to the genocide.
For many residents, the choice remains between a shelter that leaks and a home that may collapse in no time, either by the storm or by Israel’s continuous bombardment.
Gaza’s Destroyed Drainage Network Deepens the Crisis
Rainfall becomes extremely dangerous when there is nowhere for the water to go. Reports reveal that more than 15 kilometers of stormwater drains and 212 kilometers of sewage networks have been greatly damaged by Israeli bombardment.
The remaining drainage system could manage no more than about 20% of rainwater under favorable conditions. Though crews have been clearing blocked channels, shortages of fuel, machinery and spare parts have limited their work.
Eventually, floodwater can mix with waste in overcrowded camps, adding sanitation risks to the immediate problem of shelter. The destruction of roads and service vehicles also makes it harder for emergency responders to reach families or remove standing water.
A Winter Disaster Humanitarian Agencies Saw Coming
In October, UN humanitarian teams estimated that 950,000 displaced Palestinians were living at sites with medium-to-high flood risk, including more than 400,000 people at high risk.
Moreover, they also identified 294,250 families requiring winter shelter assistance, as available supplies could offer partial help to just 18%.
Days before the flooding, a November 5 UN OCHA report listed urgent needs for 121,000 tents, 561,000 tarpaulins and 1.7 million mattresses. This is because stocks inside Gaza included only about 2,800 tents and fewer than 5,000 mattresses.
UN agencies cited funding shortages, procurement delays and strict Israeli restrictions on entry and approvals as major obstacles.
Mzemo previously warned about Gaza’s winter shelter crisis. The flooded camps now show what those warnings meant for families on the ground.
Families Need Protection Beyond Temporary Tents
Children, older residents, people with disabilities, and those already ill face particular life risks when bedding stays wet and sanitation breaks down. Replacing soaked tents will help families survive this storm, but tents cannot replace secure homes, functioning sewage systems, or rebuilding their lives.
Ultimately, Gaza’s winter emergency will persist unless displaced people can move out of danger and the infrastructure that protects ordinary civilian life is restored. This can happen when Israel eventually drops its heinous plans to wipe out the people of Gaza and Palestine.
