Gaza Herald – A powerful winter system unleashed torrential rainfall across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, submerging thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinian families who have already endured two years of Israeli occupation-led genocide and the collapse of the enclave’s infrastructure.
Floodwaters swept through sprawling displacement camps from the early hours of dawn, with water levels inside many tents surpassing 40 centimeters, destroying the only remaining belongings of families who had lost everything. Many displaced Palestinians issued urgent pleas for rescue as freezing temperatures compounded the catastrophe.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal warned of an “imminent humanitarian catastrophe,” saying responders are witnessing tents collapse and families being engulfed by rising waters. He stressed that the aid reaching Gaza is “almost nothing” compared to the scale of need, urging immediate international intervention.
The Gaza Government Media Office earlier cautioned that the polar front, expected to continue through Friday evening, threatens hundreds of thousands of displaced families living in makeshift encampments with no protection from flooding, cold, or disease, conditions worsened by the ongoing genocide launched by the Israeli occupation on 8 October 2023.
After two years of sustained bombardment and destruction, Gaza requires over 300,000 emergency shelters. UN assessments now estimate $70 billion will be needed to rebuild the obliterated territory, where the occupation’s attacks, backed by the United States, have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000.
