Since 2007, Gaza has endured three major operations and two full years of offensive by Israel. All of this has brought death, destruction, need, precariousness, even . Its people do not have enough problems that now, in addition, winter and rain are coming, floods are coming and the sinking of the little that has been set up to protect civilians. It is unstable and bloody, and humanitarian aid arrives in dribs and drabs. Now, the storm soaks everything and makes everything worse.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), an agency of the United Nations, has reported that Storm Byron, a powerful storm system that caused flooding in Greece and Cyprus before reaching Gaza earlier this week, has now finally entered Palestinian soil, “bringing with it abundant rainfall that has already flooded multiple displacement sites and put almost 795,000 displaced Palestinians at high risk.” The rains are expected to continue in the hours to come, especially over the weekend, “putting even more pressure on the families who are living in the unsafe shelters and aggravating their living conditions.”
Despite the ceasefire, displaced Palestinians continue to live in crowded areas, with little protection from rising water levels. 90% of the buildings have been damaged by the Tel Aviv attacks, which left at least 69,000 dead, a response to the attacks of October 7, 2023, when .
Since the ceasefire on October 10, IOM has delivered more than one million shelter items to partners in Gaza, including waterproof tents, thermal blankets, sleeping mats and tarpaulins. But even these elements “are not enough to withstand the floods.” Many displacement sites are on low-lying, debris-strewn terrain with inadequate drainage and waste disposal systems, leaving families at heightened risk of disease outbreaks and other public health hazards as floodwaters continue to spread, the organization explains.
“People in Gaza have lived with loss and fear for too long,” denounces IOM Director General Amy Pope. “Now, after the entry of this storm front yesterday, families are trying to protect their children with what they have. They deserve more than this uncertainty. They deserve security. Immediate and unrestricted access is essential so that the tools and supplies can reach those who are doing everything they can to continue being together in these extremely complicated conditions,” he claims.
Delay in help
Basic tool kits, sandbags and water pumps, as well as construction materials such as lumber and plywood, remain delayed by long-standing access restrictions, including limitations on the entry of construction materials into Gaza. It is not a complaint from Hamas or Palestinian organizations, which the Government denigrates, but from the UN itself. “These materials are crucial to repair and reinforce shelters against continued rainfall and to mitigate flooding at the sites,” he recalls.
Newly released figures from the Israeli military suggest that it has not met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 aid trucks into Gaza per day (which was the average rate prior to the two years of constant siege, when needs were great but obviously less). “Cold, overcrowded and unhealthy environments increase the risk of disease and infection,” says the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA), in a statement published on X. “This suffering could be prevented with unrestricted humanitarian aid, including medical support and adequate shelter.”
The January truce also specified that Israel would allow the entry of an agreed number of caravans and tents. No caravans have entered Gaza during the ceasefire, says Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli group that advocates for Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement.
The Israeli agency COGAT said on December 9, without providing evidence, that it had “lately” let into Gaza 260,000 tents and tarps and more than 1,500 trucks of blankets and warm clothing. The Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, sets the lower number.
Amjad al-Shawa, Gaza head of the Palestinian NGO Network, told Al Jazeera on Thursday that only a fraction of the 300,000 tents needed had entered Gaza. He noted that Palestinians urgently needed warmer winter clothing and accused Israel of blocking the entry of water pumps useful for clearing flooded shelters. “All international parties should take responsibility for the conditions in Gaza,” he said. “There is a real danger for people in Gaza at all levels.”
Even the death of a baby, who was outdoors, and ended up succumbing to the cold and humidity, has already been reported. He was eight months old and his name was Rahaf Abu Jazar.
The mother of baby Rahaf Abu Jazar, who died from the cold and humidity, hugs her body at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on December 11, 2025.
“Palestinians in Gaza are confined to less than 50% of the total area of the Strip. Yesterday we witnessed flooding everywhere, and with the infrastructure already devastated, the rains caused severe damage,” emphasizes Haitham Aqel, leader of the Relief and Emergency Team of the Palestine Housing Council, a local aid organization that is an IOM partner. “We used sandbags to create drains, but many beds and mattresses belonging to the affected people were damaged as water entered the tents, which are already badly worn.”
“We used sandbags to create drains, but many beds and mattresses belonging to those affected were damaged as water entered the tents, which are already very worn out.”
IOM’s Needs and Population Monitoring (NPM) programme, working with partners to manage sites on the ground, has identified more than 140,000 people affected by previous rains that had already flooded 219 active displacement sites. Building on this assessment, IOM continues to support essential interventions to reduce risks in crowded areas, improve drainage arrangements and help families access crucial services.
“We are doing the best we can, operating in more than 120 displacement sites in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Deir Al Balah, but the needs are overwhelming,” says Aqel. “We urgently need heavy machinery to remove the rubble, more supplies for shelters, and recovery work must begin as soon as possible so that Gaza can begin to be rebuilt,” he concludes.
“I don’t have clothes”
The agency has published testimonies from the field of Gazaris terribly affected by these circumstances. He explains that families have found their belongings and their scarce food soaked inside their tents. “Children’s sandals disappeared under the brown water that flooded the camps and reached people’s knees. Roads turned to mud. Piles of garbage and sewage turned into waterfalls,” he describes.
“We have drowned. I have no clothes to wear and we have no mattresses left,” says Um Salman Abu Qenas, a mother displaced from eastern Khan Yunis to a tent camp. He said his family couldn’t sleep because of the water in the tent.
Sabreen Qudeeh, also in Khan Yunis camp, in an area known as Muwasi, said her family woke up to rain seeping through the roof of their tent and street water soaking their mattresses. “My little girls were screaming,” he told the North American media.
Ahmad Abu Taha, also in the camp, noted that not a tent was immune from the flooding. “The conditions are very bad, we have elderly, displaced and sick people inside this camp,” he said.
Flooding in south-central Israel trapped more than a dozen people in their cars, according to local press. Israel’s rescue services said two girls were slightly injured when a tree fell on their school.
The contrasting scenes with Gaza made clear how deeply the war between Israel and Hamas had damaged the territory, destroying most homes. Gaza’s population of around two million is almost completely displaced, with most people living in vast tent camps stretching along the coast or set up among the remains of damaged buildings with no adequate flood infrastructure and with septic tanks dug near the tents as toilets.
At least three buildings in Gaza City already damaged by Israeli bombing during the war partially collapsed in the rain, the Palestinian Civil Defense reported. He warned people not to stay inside damaged buildings, saying they could also collapse on them. The EFE agency reported this Friday morning that there are eight people dead due to these collapses.
