Gaza Herald – Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians across Gaza were battered by heavy rain, strong winds, and plunging temperatures as successive winter storms flooded tents and buried families in mud and debris, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe left by two years of Israeli bombardment.
A powerful polar low-pressure system swept through the Strip on Saturday, submerging makeshift shelters and tearing apart fragile tents erected after Israel destroyed much of Gaza’s housing. Authorities warned that conditions were likely to worsen, with another severe storm forecast in the coming days.
Families who have lived under plastic sheets and scrap wood since late 2023 said the rain left them soaked and exposed, with no alternative shelter available. Entire neighborhoods, already reduced to rubble by Israeli attacks, turned into muddy flood zones where survival became a daily struggle.
The cold snap has proven deadly. Gaza authorities said at least 15 people, including three infants, died from hypothermia in December alone, as collapsing shelters and freezing rain overwhelmed displaced communities lacking basic protection.
Aid workers and local officials said rescue teams were stretched thin, responding to desperate calls as winter compounded the devastation of war. With Israel continuing to restrict the entry of shelter materials and humanitarian aid, Gaza’s displaced population remains trapped between the ruins of bombardment and the brutality of the elements.
