Heavy rains flood Gaza’s displacement camps for second day, leaving families exposed

Hundreds of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians across Gaza were flooded for the second consecutive day on Thursday after heavy overnight rainfall linked to a new winter storm.

The tents were inundated after rain fell continuously from the early hours of dawn through the night, worsening the conditions of families already displaced by Israel’s two-year genocide, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Gaza’s civil defence said in a statement on Thursday that it evacuated dozens of tents in Rafah, in the south, after they were completely submerged.

The agency’s spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, warned on Wednesday that more than 250,000 families in displacement camps across the enclave are vulnerable to cold weather and rainwater in their worn-out tents.

The agency warned that humanitarian conditions could deteriorate further if the storm system persists, especially with no temporary shelters available for displaced families.

On Tuesday, the Gaza Government Media Office warned that a polar low-pressure system would affect the enclave starting on Wednesday and lasting until Friday evening, threatening hundreds of thousands of displaced families.

Since Wednesday, thousands of tents housing survivors of Israel’s war have turned into pools of water, soaking bedding, clothing, and food supplies, and leaving hundreds of Palestinian families exposed to the cold without warmth or shelter.

According to prior data from the media office, Gaza needs around 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after Israel destroyed infrastructure over two years of its genocidal war.

The UN estimates the cost of reconstructing Gaza at about $70 billion as a result of the Israeli war, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000. A ceasefire came into effect on October 10.