Storm floods about 70,000 tents of displaced people in Gaza
Gaza's Government Media Office says about 70,000 tents were flooded within 12 hours of the season's first winter storm. Civil Defence said it received about 1,500 distress calls in 10 hours.
- About 70,000 tents flooded within 12 hours, according to Gaza's Government Media Office
- Civil Defence received about 1,500 distress calls in 10 hours
- OCHA says emergency supplies are insufficient and funding is urgently needed
Heavy rain from the first winter storm of the season flooded about 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip within 12 hours, according to Gaza's Government Media Office. In a statement on Saturday, it put initial losses at about $3m.
Gaza's civil defence agency said it received about 1,500 distress calls in 10 hours after the rain began early on Saturday. Water levels at several shelter sites rose by 30-40 cm (12-16 inches). Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said premature babies, the elderly and the sick were most at risk, and added: "What we feared has actually happened."
The Government Media Office said dozens of walls collapsed and people were injured. Rescuers evacuated residents of a building in the central Nuseirat area that partly collapsed in strong wind and rain. In northern Gaza, the wall of another building fell in the downpour and injured two people, according to the Wafa news agency.
Families in camps in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah waded through ankle-deep water, and their mattresses and blankets were soaked, Al Jazeera reported. Its correspondent Rami Abu Taima said more than 900,000 displaced people are sheltering in al-Mawasi, where rain had fallen since 10pm on Friday. He said more than 125,000 families along the coast were at particular risk of their tents being swept away by the sea.
Raed al-Dahshan, director of civil defence in Gaza governorate, said: "Civil Defence does not have a single tarpaulin or a single tent." Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Medical Complex, said its emergency department flooded and was out of service for about four hours. He warned of more gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin infections as sewage mixed with rainwater inside tents.
Gaza's emergency committee said more than one million displaced people face the dangers of winter and that about 200,000 tents and heating supplies are urgently needed. Many tents were put up in the first year of displacement and are now in their fourth year of use.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said flooded shelters put families in flood-prone areas and damaged buildings at immediate risk. It said most of Gaza's 2.1 million residents remain displaced, available emergency stocks are insufficient, and months of funding shortfalls and restrictions have constrained preparations. OCHA urged the immediate entry of winter supplies, heavy machinery, engine oil and spare parts for humanitarian vehicles and generators, and said: "More humanitarian funding is urgent."
Mohammed Salha, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, said 180 to 200 trucks enter Gaza daily against 600 agreed under the ceasefire's humanitarian protocol, and only about 40 carry aid. He said 50,000 tents are waiting on the Egyptian side of the border. The Government Media Office held Israel responsible, citing closed crossings and blocked shelter materials, and aid groups blame Israeli restrictions on shelter materials.
Why it matters
Pakistanis follow the humanitarian situation in Gaza closely, and it is major news across the Muslim world. The reports show more than one million displaced people facing winter in tents, many in their fourth year of use. The UN says funding is urgently needed, which is the kind of appeal that relief organisations and donors respond to.
