Gaza displaced face deadly storm flooding as 150,000 tents await entry

Severe storms and torrential rainfall have overwhelmed displacement camps across the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians in flooded encampments while an estimated 150,000 emergency tents remain stuck outside the enclave awaiting Israeli clearance.

At least five people, including four children and a woman, died during the extreme weekend weather, according to Palestinian health officials. One child drowned in rising floodwaters, while a mother and three children were killed when a sand dune collapsed onto their tent.

The heavy downpours ruined fragile, makeshift shelters, leaving thousands without any form of covering. The United Nations reported that 26,000 households sought assistance following the storm, with roughly 3,900 families completely stripped of shelter. Sanitation networks broke down across several settlements, sending raw sewage into flooded family living areas.

Humanitarian organisations have warned of an escalating health crisis among the displaced. Medical Aid for Palestinians cautioned that damp, freezing, and overcrowded conditions are likely to trigger surges in severe respiratory infections and hypothermia, particularly among young children. According to UN estimates, approximately 940,000 people across Gaza reside in zones vulnerable to flooding, where stormwater pumps sit idle due to persistent electricity shortages.

Aid groups report that obtaining adequate shelter materials remains nearly impossible due to stringent Israeli border controls. Charities such as Shelterbox stated that their standard relief tents have been stranded outside Gaza for almost two years, forcing them to distribute makeshift shelters fashioned out of wooden pallets and plastic tarpaulins. Those materials are also facing entry delays, with aid groups describing erratic and unpredictable border inspections.

While Israeli authorities stated that 10,000 tents were permitted into the territory last week, humanitarian agencies stress that the volume is vastly insufficient. Roughly 94 percent of Gaza's population requires shelter assistance. Israeli rights group Gisha noted that authorities are enforcing tighter restrictions on commercial and humanitarian cargo than in previous ceasefires, adding that official truck counts overestimate delivered quantities by counting partial loads as full vehicles.

Advocacy groups, including the Council for Arab-British Understanding, have urged international leaders to press Israel to lift bans on dual-use construction items and reinstate operational permits for relief groups, warning that political inaction amid the approaching winter will prove catastrophic for families surviving in damaged tents.