Powerful Storms and Flooding Deepen Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1411 EAT on Wednesday 26 November 2025

Israel’s more than two-year war in Gaza has displaced nearly all of the territory’s two million residents, forcing many to live in makeshift tents in overcrowded displacement camps.

Now, their suffering is set to deepen with the arrival of harsh winter storms and flooding, raising fears that the flimsy temporary shelters—already unable to withstand difficult conditions—could be swept away entirely.

Gaza has already been hit by increasingly severe weather.

“Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen strong wind, heavy rainfall and plummeting temperatures here, turning many of the displacement areas into pools of muddy water,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.

“We have areas that have been completely submerged by water—areas that were flooded by the heavy rainfall that was mixed with sewage water as well, making it very dangerous for people here.”

The worsening conditions have left entire families scooping muddy water out of their tents with buckets and weighing down the flimsy structures with rocks and concrete blocks, desperate to protect what little they have left.

“All the tents are destroyed. Our tents are just made of fabric. Our children are drowning. There’s nothing for us to wear, no clothes to put on,” Assmaa Fayad, a displaced Palestinian, told Al Jazeera.

Mahmoud told Al Jazeera that many of the buildings where displaced families have taken refuge are no safer than the tents. The problem, he said, is that “they’re cracked in the walls … in the ceilings”, leaving residents to endure harsh conditions indoors as well.

Under the United States-brokered ceasefire that took effect on October 10 — which Palestinian officials and local authorities accuse Israel of violating hundreds of times — aid deliveries were expected to scale up significantly, with at least 600 trucks per day meant to enter Gaza to meet basic humanitarian needs.

However, Gaza’s Government Media Office says that only an average of 145 trucks have entered the territory each day since the ceasefire began.

In a post on social media, the UNHCR warned that “thousands of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip are struggling to find safe shelter in preparation for the coming cold weather,” adding that “more shelter materials are still needed.”

Aid organisations estimate that at least 300,000 mobile homes and tents are required to house the displaced population. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reports that more than 79,000 displaced people are currently sheltering in 85 UNRWA-run facilities across the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement issued a statement condemning what it described as a severe lack of supplies as winter approaches.

“The suffering of our people in Gaza, especially the displaced, has worsened amid the cold and rainy weather. The flooding of the displaced persons’ tents is a direct result of the Zionist [Israeli] siege policy and the prevention of the entry of basic necessities, all while the world remains silent,” the statement said.

The group also called on the international community to “take immediate action and pressure the Zionist enemy to open the crossings and allow the entry of aid and essential supplies.”

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem echoed those concerns, writing on Telegram that “all the world’s efforts to alleviate the disaster have failed because of the Israeli siege.”

Although Wednesday brought a brief spell of sunny, dry weather, the respite may be short-lived, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud reported. “A lot of people worry that by the evening, winds will pick up again,” he said

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