A field hospital is flooded following heavy rains in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
Days of heavy rains have flooded hundreds of makeshift shelters across Gaza, piling more misery on displaced Palestinians as Israel continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid amid its genocide.
Forcibly displaced families across Gaza are struggling to keep their children warm and save what few belongings they are left with.
While the weather is expected to improve in the coming days, for some, it is already too late. At least seven people, including six babies, have died of hypothermia over the past week.
The cold weather has placed Gaza’s already devastated healthcare system under further strain. A field hospital was flooded in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis city.
The Palestinian Civil Defence says floodwaters rose to more than 30cm (12 inches) in the affected tents, leaving displaced Palestinians exposed to the cold and causing damage to their belongings and mattresses.
The emergency service said the tents – located in areas including northern Gaza City, southern Khan Younis, as well as in central Deir el-Balah – were rendered unusable because of the flooding.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crammed into unsuitable tents, most of which were hastily set up in Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, as Gaza’s 2.4 million residents endure severe shortages of drinkable water, food and medicines.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 45,541 Palestinians and wounded 108,338 since October 7, 2023.
Brothers Belal, 5, and Mohammed Hamad, 7, collect water from their flooded family tent after overnight rainfall at the refugee tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Manal Lubbad, a 49-year-old mother of eight and a displaced woman from Gaza City, tries to clean her flooded tent after heavy overnight rainfall at the refugee tent camp for displaced Palestinians. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Men mop away the rainwater that flooded the medical tent annex at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip due to a rainstorm on December 31. [Bashar Taleb/AFP]
A Palestinian girl stands outside her tent at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians. [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP]
Displaced Palestinians rush to take shelter during a storm at a makeshift camp in Gaza City. [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP]
A displaced Palestinian cooks outside his tent at a makeshift camp. [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP]
A boy walks barefoot through the mud after overnight rainfall at the refugee tent camp. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
A Palestinian man shows the worn-out shoe of a child at a makeshift camp housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. [Bashar Taleb/AFP]
A Palestinian woman tries to keep warm under blankets inside her tent at a makeshift camp housing displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis. [Bashar Taleb/AFP]
A young girl walks barefoot, carrying empty jerrycans to collect water, after overnight rainfall at the refugee tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
Men mop away rainwater that flooded the medical tent annex at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. [Bashar Taleb/AFP]
