Winter Storm Deepens Gaza’s Humanitarian Emergency as Flooded Camps Expose Failures of Ceasefire Relief Efforts

BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA

Heavy rains pounded Gaza on Thursday as winter storm Byron swept across the region, soaking the vast tent camps where nearly the entire population has sought refuge and laying bare how two months of a ceasefire have fallen far short of addressing the territory’s accelerating humanitarian collapse. Temperatures dropped sharply, and families already living in makeshift shelters found themselves battling both the cold and rising floodwaters.

Across camps in Khan Younis and elsewhere, tents filled with muddy water, food supplies were ruined, and mattresses floated in pools that in some areas reached knee height. Children waded through thick brown water in sandals, while adults struggled to salvage possessions from the sludge. Dirt roads turned into impassable channels of mud, and heaps of sewage spilled into walkways as drainage systems failed.

“We have been drowned. I don’t have clothes to wear and we have no mattresses left,” said Um Salman Abu Qenas, a displaced mother in a Khan Younis camp. She said her family spent the night awake, unable to sleep as water continued to seep into the tent.

Aid organizations say that despite the ceasefire, essential shelter materials remain in critically short supply. Figures cited recently by Israel’s military suggest that the commitment to allow 600 aid trucks per day into Gaza has not been met—an assessment Israeli officials dispute. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees warned that the harsh living conditions risk triggering widespread illness. “Cold, overcrowded, and unsanitary environments heighten the risk of illness and infection,” it wrote on X, stressing that the suffering was avoidable if humanitarian aid were allowed in without obstruction.

Inside the Muwasi district of Khan Younis, one of the largest and most densely packed camps, families described a night of chaos. Sabreen Qudeeh said her tent roof leaked so heavily that her daughters woke up screaming in fright. Ahmad Abu Taha, another displaced resident, said every tent he saw had been flooded. “Conditions are very bad. We have old people, displaced families, and sick people inside this camp,” he said.

Even outside Gaza, the storm caused disruptions. Floodwaters trapped more than a dozen people in their cars in southern Israel, and local rescue services reported that two girls were slightly injured when a tree fell on their school. The contrast in damage underscored how profoundly Gaza’s infrastructure has deteriorated after months of war. The territory’s 2 million residents—almost all displaced—now live in sprawling tent cities lacking basic drainage, solid foundations, and safe sanitation systems.

Gaza’s Civil Defense said that at least three buildings in Gaza City, already weakened by Israeli airstrikes earlier in the conflict, partially collapsed under the weight of the rain. The agency urged people not to shelter in damaged structures and reported receiving more than 2,500 distress calls since the storm began, the majority involving collapsed tents or unsafe shelters.

In many camps, families spent hours scooping water out of their tents with buckets, mops, and even their hands. Aliaa Bahtiti said her 8-year-old son slept on a soaked mattress and awoke shivering. “He had turned blue in the morning, sleeping on water,” she said. “We cannot buy food, covers, towels, or sheets to sleep on.”

Baraka Bhar, sheltering with her 3-month-old twins, said one of the infants—who has hydrocephalus—was at heightened risk because their tent was falling apart. “Our tents are worn out, and they leak rainwater,” she said. “We should not lose our children this winter.”

Aid agencies maintain that the volume of humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza remains insufficient to rebuild even basic shelter. Under the ceasefire conditions, Israel had agreed to abide by aid benchmarks established in a January truce, which included permitting 600 trucks of supplies per day and allowing in new caravans and sturdier tents. No caravans have entered since the ceasefire began, according to Gisha, an Israeli rights group tracking access issues.

COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for coordinating aid, said in early December it had recently allowed 260,000 tents and tarpaulins into Gaza, along with more than 1,500 trucks carrying blankets and winter clothing. Shelter Cluster, a coalition of aid groups led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, reports far lower figures, saying that only about 15,590 tents from U.N. and international groups have entered, with an additional 48,000 provided by individual countries—many of which are thin, uninsulated, and ill-suited for severe weather.

Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, said Thursday that only a fraction of the estimated 300,000 needed tents have arrived. He argued that winter clothing remains scarce and accused Israel of blocking the entry of water pumps that could help residents drain their flooded shelters. “All international sides should take responsibility regarding conditions in Gaza,” he said. “There is real danger for people in Gaza at all levels.”

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Gaza requires urgent rehabilitation of hospitals, heavy machinery to remove rubble, and the reopening of the Rafah crossing, which has remained closed after Israel signaled last week that it would soon reopen. COGAT did not immediately respond to questions about restrictions on water pumps or construction equipment.

Meanwhile, a new report from Amnesty International released Thursday accused Hamas and other militant factions of committing crimes against humanity during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war. The 173-page report cites what Amnesty describes as widespread killing of civilians, torture, hostage-taking, and sexual abuse. The group said it conducted interviews with survivors and relatives of victims and examined hundreds of videos and photos from the day of the attack.

Amnesty said the evidence contradicted Hamas claims that its fighters targeted the military, concluding instead that the assault was deliberately directed at civilians. The organization also documented instances of sexual assault, including a man who said he was raped at the Nova music festival, and testimony from a therapist who treated other survivors of sexual violence.

Hamas dismissed the findings, accusing Amnesty of repeating Israeli narratives. Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein criticized the report as incomplete, saying it failed to reflect the full extent of the attacks.

As winter intensifies and political pressures mount, conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate, with residents now confronting both the aftermath of war and the immediate threat of the weather—an emergency that many fear will worsen unless major barriers to humanitarian aid are removed quickly.