Flooding in Gaza compounds hardship of people displaced by Israeli attacks

Gaza’s Government Media Office says about 10,000 tents either washed away or were damaged due to the storm.

Heavy rains have flooded tent encampments of displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, adding misery to communities already devastated by 13 months of war, as Israeli forces stepped up attacks in the enclave.

Downpours overnight inundated tents and in some places washed away the plastic and cloth shelters used by displaced people in the enclave, most of whom have been uprooted several times during the war between Israel and Hamas.

Some placed water buckets on the ground to protect mats from leaks and dug trenches to drain water away from their tents.

“We left the north and survived the bombings. We left after the siege. But now the rain and cold are killing us. I’ve been sick for three days,” Ahmad, a displaced resident of Jabalia, northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera in a tent camp in Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City.

“We were affected by the rain. Our children were soaked. Our clothes got wet and we have nothing to protect ourselves, just the tent,” said Um Mohammad Marouf, a displaced Beit Lahiya resident.

Many tents used in the early stages of Israel’s war in Gaza have now worn out and no longer offer protection. The price of new tents and plastic sheeting has also shot up beyond the means of displaced families.

On Monday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement that about 10,000 tents were either washed away or damaged due to the storm, appealing for international help to provide displaced families with tents to shield them against the rain and cold.

“According to government field assessment teams, 81 percent of the displaced persons’ tents are no longer usable. Out of 135,000 tents, 110,000 are completely worn out and urgently need replacement,” it said.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said many tent sites are near the coast and are not designed to withstand “these horrific conditions”, especially as colder weather approaches.

“The rising tide has damaged many of these tents, leaving people with little hope and no dry clothes to protect themselves,” he said.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that half a million people across the besieged enclave are at risk in areas hit by flooding.

“The situation will only get worse with every drop of rain, every bomb, every strike,” the agency said on X.

Meanwhile on Monday, Israeli attacks intensified across the enclave.

In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli air attack killed at least four people, medics said, while tanks deepened their incursions in Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya, and Jabalia – the largest of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps.

Medics said seven Palestinian people were also killed by two Israeli air attacks in Jabalia.

Residents in Gaza said Israeli planes also dropped new leaflets on Beit Lahiya ordering remaining residents to leave the northern city for the south, saying the area would come under attack and providing them with a map.

Palestinian people say Israel appears determined to depopulate the area permanently to create a buffer zone along the northern edge of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied this accusation.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 44,235 Palestinians and wounded 104,638 since October 7, 2023.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies