Heavy Storm Batters Gaza, Leaving Displaced Palestinians Freezing in Flooded Tents
Gaza (QNN)- Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, sheltering in dilapidated tents, endured a severe night after a polar low-pressure system brought heavy rain and strong winds across the Strip on Saturday, leaving them freezing and flooding.
A polar low-pressure system accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds battered the Gaza Strip on Saturday. It is the third polar low to affect the Palestinian territory this winter, with a fourth low-pressure system forecast to hit the area starting on Monday, meteorologist Laith al-Allami said.
Earlier, the Palestinian Civil Defense urged the public to take precautions ahead of a weather system, which hit the region on Friday evening and is expected to go through next Wednesday and bring heavy rain, strong winds and a sharp drop in temperatures. It warned that the storm could trigger flooding and dangerous road conditions.
Local sources confirmed hundreds of tents were flooded across Gaza over the heavy rain and winds.
The Mayor of Gaza City said thousands of families are now left living in the open after their tents were flooded.
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The enclave is imminently facing freezing temperatures, rain and strong winds, as the authorities warn the downpour could intensify into a full-blown storm.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal warned, “The coming hours are dangerous, and we may witness the disaster again, with displaced families being flooded and their tents destroyed due to the approaching low-pressure system. We are facing a dire situation, and global action is urgently needed to save Gaza from flooding.
The rescue group noted that the “worn-out tents could not withstand the strong winds, with some torn or blown away, leaving entire families in the open."
Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Gaza Government Media Office, said “warnings of a humanitarian disaster are highly likely” as the heavy storm hit the enclave.
Videos circulating on social media show tents being blown away, strong winds scattering belongings, displaced people pleading for help, and children shivering from the cold.
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On Saturday night in Gaza City, a Palestinian child fell into a deep water well. Despite hours of desperate efforts, the Civil Defense team was only able to recover him dead.
Ibrahim Abu al-Reesh, head of field operations for the Civil Defense in the Gaza Port area, said that his teams responded to various distress calls as weather conditions got harsher in places where displaced people set up fragile tents.
“We worked hard to cover some of these damaged tents with plastic sheets after they were flooded by rainwater,” he said.
Earlier this month, the heavy rains flooded tents and shelters across Gaza, where most of the buildings have been destroyed or damaged during the genocide. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 16 people have died from hypothermia and collapsing buildings, including four children. Many of the structures that collapsed were already severely damaged by Israeli airstrikes and could not withstand the heavy rain and strong winds. In several cases, residents were trapped under the rubble, while others were injured or killed.
More than 27,000 tents housing displaced families have been destroyed or swept away by flooding and powerful winds, affecting over 250,000 people across Gaza, the Gaza Civil Defense said.
Israel’s two-year war has destroyed more than 80 percent of the structures across Gaza, forcing hundreds of thousands of families to take refuge in flimsy tents or overcrowded makeshift shelters.
Now, the humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate as winter deepens amid an Israeli blockade despite the ceasefire with limited access to shelter materials, fuel, and medical care.
Humanitarian groups have immediately urged Israel to allow unimpeded deliveries of aid to Gaza.
But the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says the Israeli occupation government has blocked it from bringing aid directly into Gaza.
“People have reportedly died due to the collapse of damaged buildings where families were sheltering. Children have reportedly died from exposure to the cold,” UNRWA said on Tuesday.
“This must stop. Aid must be allowed in at scale, now.”
The UN chief’s spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN has been warning that “children will be dying from hypothermia” in the war-ravaged territory.
“That’s why we need to make sure that we can get warm clothing, tents and tarps and shelters [into Gaza],” he said.
“We need to have much more aid coming in to protect especially the youngest and most vulnerable.”
