Khan Younis: Heavy rain battered the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding makeshift displacement camps and leaving thousands of Palestinians struggling to survive in freezing, waterlogged conditions. Ankle-deep puddles submerged tents that have been weakened by months of use, soaking blankets, mattresses and personal belongings as displaced families tried desperately to stay dry.
In camps across Khan Younis, muddy water-filled tents while fragile shelters were propped up with scraps of wood. Children, dressed in flip-flops and thin clothing unsuitable for winter, waded through icy puddles as dirt roads turned into streams. Some residents used shovels in a futile attempt to push the water out of their shelters.
“We drowned last night,” said Majdoleen Tarabein, who was displaced from Rafah in southern Gaza. “Puddles formed, there was a bad smell, and the tent flew away. We don’t know what to do or where to go.” She showed blankets and household items caked in mud and water as her family tried to wring them dry by hand.
Eman Abu Riziq, another displaced resident in Khan Younis, said water flooded her tent overnight. “When we woke up, we found the water had entered the tent. These mattresses are completely soaked. My daughters’ belongings were ruined,” she said, pointing to leaks in the ceiling and corners of the shelter. Her family is still coping with the recent death of her husband while battling the daily struggle to survive winter rains.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 12 people, including a two-week-old infant, have died since December 13 due to hypothermia or weather-related collapses of war-damaged buildings. Emergency workers have warned residents to avoid damaged structures, which could collapse at any moment, but with much of Gaza reduced to rubble, there are few safe places to take shelter. The United Nations Satellite Centre estimated in July that nearly 80 per cent of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged.
Since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on October 11, at least 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. The total Palestinian death toll since the start of the war has reached at least 71,266. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants but is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records considered generally reliable by the international community.
Humanitarian agencies say shelter needs are growing increasingly urgent as aid deliveries fall far short of requirements under the United States-brokered ceasefire. An Associated Press analysis of Israeli military figures shows that 4,200 aid trucks entered Gaza in the past week, along with eight garbage trucks for sanitation and unspecified numbers of tents and winter clothing. Israeli authorities declined to detail how many tents were delivered, while aid groups say supplies remain woefully insufficient.
Since the ceasefire began, about 72,000 tents and 403,000 tarps have entered Gaza, according to the Shelter Cluster, an international coalition led by the Norwegian Refugee Council. “Harsh winter weather is compounding more than two years of suffering,” UN relief chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. “People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has travelled to Washington to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire with US President Donald Trump and is expected to meet him at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. Although the truce has largely held for the past two and a half months, progress has slowed. Israel has said it will not proceed to the next phase until the remains of the final hostage killed in the October 7, 2023, attack are returned from Gaza.
Key challenges in the next stage include the deployment of an international stabilisation force, the formation of a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals. Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
With PTI inputs