First Winter Storm Floods at Least 70,000 Gaza Displacement Tents as Civil Defence Fields 1,500 Distress Calls
GAZA — The first rainstorm of the winter swept the Gaza Strip on Saturday, November 7, flooding the tent encampments packed with displaced Palestinians, washing away shelters and soaking blankets and mattresses. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 70,000 tents had been flooded in the past 12 hours, affecting tens of thousands of displaced people and causing injuries, although no fatalities had been reported.
The territory's civil defence service said it had received 1,500 distress calls from displaced residents. Municipal and civil defence officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damage to equipment. "This is the first day of rain, and of course we are already flooded. What will happen if it rains again the next day?" one displaced resident said.
An October report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that some 950,000 displaced Palestinians were living in sites at medium to high risk of flooding, including more than 400,000 in areas considered at high risk, and that 294,250 families needed shelter assistance for the rainy season while available supplies were sufficient to provide partial assistance to only 18 percent of those in need.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, did not immediately comment on the accusations by Hamas. It said in a statement on Friday that it had stepped up efforts to improve sanitary conditions across Gaza before the heavy rain, in coordination with international organisations, and that four additional vacuum trucks had entered Gaza this week through the International Committee of the Red Cross, joining eight others brought in over the past month to support sewage pumping, weekly waste removal and repairs to water and sewage infrastructure. Most of Gaza's population now lives in tent camps. (Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图（资料图）：2025年1月23日，加沙地带 Deir el-Balah，流离失所的巴勒斯坦人在暴雨中守着被雨水浸泡的帐篷。联合国近东救济工程处（UNRWA）Ashraf Amra 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: Displaced Palestinians beside their rain-soaked tents during heavy rain in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip, on January 23, 2025. By Ashraf Amra for UNRWA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, via Wikimedia Commons.
