In Gaza, tens of thousands of refugees deprived of shelter after torrential rains

Torrential rains in the Gaza Strip have led to the flooding of tens of thousands of tents of displaced people, depriving them of shelter, and leaving several injured, local authorities said on Saturday.

Around “70,000 tents sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people were flooded during the first day” of a depression affecting the Palestinian territory, said the press office of the Hamas-controlled government.

“Dozens of cracked walls and roofs collapsed, causing injuries, some in serious condition” across the Gaza Strip, the same source said.

Since early morning, hundreds of families have been seen fleeing flooded displacement camps in the central and northern Gaza Strip, as well as Gaza City.

The territory's Civil Defense received more than 1,500 emergency calls during the night, according to its spokesperson, who told AFP that its teams were operating "without any equipment or means."

The first aid organization, which operates under the authority of Hamas, cannot “face the consequences of this depression alone,” insisted the spokesperson, who “launched an emergency appeal to the international community and humanitarian organizations.”

“We couldn't save the mattresses and all our clothes were soaked,” Oum Mohamed al-Hersh, 45, who lives with his family in a tent in western Gaza, told AFP. “We experience this ordeal every winter.”

“My children ask me where we are going to sleep tonight and I have no answer,” said Maryam Odeh, a 34-year-old resident of Deir al-Balah, who is saddened by “no longer knowing how to protect (them).”

Khaled al-Najjar, 41, is also worried about his family because of the risk of tents collapsing and "the cold and the diseases that are spreading."

In a statement, the coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations warned of the risk of the spread of disease and “catastrophe” threatening Gaza residents.

She also called for “pressuring Israel so that humanitarian aid can enter without restrictions.”

Since the announcement of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in October 2025, Israeli authorities have prevented the entry of prefabricated houses intended to accommodate displaced people and have limited the entry of tents, says Mustapha Qazzaat, Gaza municipal councilor and head of the Gaza Strip emergency commission.

The Palestinian territory “urgently needs 200,000 caravans, as well as equipment to clear the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings, clear main arteries and urgently restore electricity and heating,” he told AFP.