Gaza Herald — Children in Gaza are being forced to endure freezing rain and floodwaters inside collapsing, makeshift shelters, a humanitarian tragedy that UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has condemned as “the shame of our time.”
Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, expressed outrage over images showing displaced Palestinian children trapped in tents inundated with cold rainwater, without adequate protection from the approaching winter.
In a post on X, she invoked the words of Holocaust survivor and writer Primo Levi, drawing attention to the contradiction between Europe’s professed commitment to human rights and the suffering unfolding in Gaza.
“The words of Primo Levi come to mind, which every European learns by heart at school but forgets as soon as they enter the world of politics or diplomacy,” Albanese wrote.
Her condemnation comes as a powerful winter storm has swept through the Gaza Strip, turning displacement camps into flooded encampments and exposing families to another humanitarian emergency despite the ceasefire.
70,000 Tents Flooded as Winter Storm Batters Gaza
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO), approximately 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians were flooded during the storm.
For families already living in worn-out tents after years of Israeli bombardment and displacement, the heavy rainfall has destroyed bedding, soaked clothing, and left children exposed to cold temperatures.
Many displaced Palestinians have been forced to spend the winter in overcrowded camps, where fragile fabric shelters offer little protection from wind, rain, or rising floodwaters.
The dangers extend beyond flooding.
In Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, a rain-soaked sand embankment collapsed onto tents housing displaced families, killing four Palestinians, including a mother and her two children, according to an initial account from the GMO.
The incident underscored the deadly conditions facing families sheltering in unsafe locations amid the widespread destruction of Gaza’s residential buildings and infrastructure.
Millions Remain Without Adequate Shelter
The winter emergency has exposed the scale of Gaza’s unresolved displacement crisis.
In August, the GMO reported that more than 2.15 million Palestinians were living in dire humanitarian conditions.
Of those, approximately 867,000 were sheltering in deteriorating tents, while more than one million others were staying in displacement shelters.
With much of Gaza’s housing and essential infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged, displaced families remain dependent on temporary accommodation that cannot withstand harsh winter conditions.
Restrictions on the entry of construction materials, prefabricated housing units, and other shelter supplies have further complicated efforts to provide safer accommodation.
Although a ceasefire is in place, the humanitarian crisis continues, leaving families struggling to secure even the most basic protection against the elements.
Albanese’s remarks have brought renewed attention to the suffering of Gaza’s children, whose lives remain threatened not only by the consequences of war but also by the lack of adequate shelter.
For children sleeping in flooded tents, winter is no longer simply a cold season. It is another struggle to survive, and, as Albanese warned, a stark indictment of the world’s failure to protect them.
