Storm Floods Gaza Shelters As Conditions Worsen Under Israeli Blockade

A powerful storm and heavy rainfall inundated large sections of the Gaza Strip and left thousands more tents underwater.

Local officials said the flooding added new hardship for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians already facing what they call the worst humanitarian collapse of the era.

The Khan Younis field hospital was heavily flooded, forcing the suspension of operating rooms, maternity services and inpatient care.

Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Government Media Office in Gaza, said the winter storm was worsening an already severe crisis as the enclave remained under Israeli blockade.

He warned that “people in Gaza are experiencing an even broader humanitarian catastrophe” as temperatures drop and rainfall continues.

Al-Thawabta said Israeli forces had turned harsh winter conditions into “a new tool for genocide against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

He said more than 288,000 Palestinian families were enduring extreme cold and rain, with tens of thousands of tents already flooded and no effective assistance reaching them.

He added that international organizations had not responded at a scale matching the crisis, despite repeated calls for at least 300,000 tents and mobile housing units.

According to al-Thawabta, persistent restrictions on crossings and the blocking of shelter materials were deepening the emergency.

He said the international community, particularly the United States and countries involved in the ceasefire negotiations, must take immediate steps to compel Israel to meet its humanitarian obligations and lift restrictions on shelter, heating and alternative-energy supplies.

“What is happening in Gaza is not simply a natural disaster,” he said. “It is the result of a criminal policy of collective punishment imposed by the occupiers.”

The hospital administration in Khan Younis said staff had been working since early Tuesday to pump water out and repair damaged sections, noting extensive losses across the facility.

Palestinian sources reported that heavy rainfall also submerged thousands of tents in southern Gaza, particularly in the densely populated al-Mawasi area where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are gathered.

Repeated storms in recent weeks, including major flooding on 15 November, left worn-out tents soaked and collapsing.

Local residents said the enclave had been hit by a sharp drop in temperatures and continuous thunderstorms since Monday, worsening conditions for families lacking infrastructure to withstand winter weather.

The storm struck as Gaza remained under blockade and facing severe shortages of food, medical supplies and civilian infrastructure after two years of war.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said large numbers of displaced families were sheltering in inadequate structures exposed to flooding.

He warned that Gaza’s population was “extremely vulnerable” to harsh weather, and said UN agencies were using all available means to support displaced people.

Dujarric noted that ongoing Israeli restrictions were preventing sufficient humanitarian aid from entering, including essential supplies, and were obstructing relief operations.

Local sources said most tents scattered across displacement camps were makeshift structures built from old fabric with no protection from rain or cold, lacking power, clean water or sanitation.

Families were crammed into overcrowded spaces without privacy or safety.

With the first rainfall, many tents were submerged in mud, leaving the few available mattresses and blankets soaked, with no facilities for drying them.

Cold nights had become an additional hardship, and displaced families were spending long hours trying to dry their shelters and bedding with little success.

Residents said that in the winter storms, sleep itself had become unreachable.