Thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been flooded as heavy rains and high winds have lashed the enclave
Hundreds of Palestinians sought refuge from the storm early on Tuesday amid the remnants of buildings largely destroyed by the Israeli army in Gaza City, according to witnesses.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal warned that thousands of partially destroyed buildings are at risk of collapse due to the rain and wind.
“These homes pose a grave danger to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have found no shelter,” Basal told Turkish news agency Anadolu. “We have warned the world repeatedly, but to no avail.”
Mazen al‑Najjar, the mayor of the nearby city of Jabalia, warned that “the weather depression came as displaced people were already living in catastrophic conditions.”
More than 90% of the buildings and streets in Jabalia and the northern Gaza Strip are destroyed, forcing Palestinians to live in worn‑out tents, the mayor said.
He added that the area’s infrastructure has completely collapsed, which meant that the streets were quick to flood, and sewage to overflow, in the early hours of the bad weather.
Palestinians living in buildings at risk of collapse are at great risk, he warned, with dozens of deaths and injuries recorded during a previous storm.
Noting that the efforts of municipalities, civil defence teams, and local and international organisations cannot “meet the great and growing need”, al-Najjar also called for urgent action from the international community.
Mobile homes are needed as a temporary relief measure, while safe camps must be established and infrastructure and sewage networks quickly rehabilitated, he stressed.
At least 14 people were killed in a winter storm in Gaza last week. More than 53,000 displacement tents were partially or fully flooded, swept away by torrents or torn apart by strong winds, and 13 buildings collapsed across Gaza.
Although a ceasefire took effect on 10 October, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to limit the entry of aid trucks, in violation of the humanitarian protocol of the truce agreement.
