Gaza Herald – A powerful winter storm devastated the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, destroying more than 22,000 tents and leaving over 288,000 displaced families exposed to freezing rain and severe winds. Officials said the storm struck a population already shattered by Israel’s ongoing genocide, turning fragile camps into flooded, uninhabitable zones.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said losses exceeded $3.5 million after wide areas were submerged, temporary water and sewage networks collapsed, and more than ten mobile medical points were shut down. Large quantities of food, medicine, and relief supplies were also ruined, amplifying the suffering of families who had already lost everything.
The storm further destroyed alternative energy systems across the camps, including solar panels relied on amid Gaza’s total blackout, leaving families without heat, light, or the ability to charge essential devices. Officials stressed that Israel bears direct responsibility for the worsening disaster due to its ongoing blockade on tents, insulation materials, fuel, energy supplies, and sanitation equipment, in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and international humanitarian law.
UN officials warned that Palestinian families now face the risk of drowning inside collapsing shelters, saying Israeli restrictions continue to prevent the entry of essential relief. Gaza urgently needs more than 300,000 tents and prefab housing units as the United Nations estimates reconstruction costs at $70 billion after two years of destruction that killed over 69,000 Palestinians and injured 171,000 others.
