Heavy rain floods thousands of tents in Gaza, aid shortages hamper response

Heavy rains have flooded tens of thousands of tents housing displaced Palestinians crammed into encampments across the Gaza Strip, washing away shelters and soaking blankets and mattresses, local authorities said on Saturday. The Hamas-run Gaza government ⁠media office said at least 70,000 tents had been flooded in the past 12 hours, affecting tens of thousands of displaced people and causing injuries, although no fatalities had been reported.

The territory’s civil defence service said it had received 1,500 distress calls from displaced residents. Three abandoned houses collapsed without causing injuries, it added. At a tent encampment in Gaza City, some people tried to repair their tents, ⁠while others used sand to reinforce them and prevent water from ​entering. ⁠Some were busy getting their children out of flooded tents. Olfat Magdoub, a Gaza resident, tried in vain to sweep water away from her tent.

“This is the first day of rain, and of course ⁠we are already flooded. What will happen if it rains again the next day? This is only the first ​day and ⁠we’re already overwhelmed,” said the woman. “Two weeks ago ‌when it rained, I swear to God, I spent four days sleeping on blankets spread on the floor because the rainwater had flooded the bedding. Same now, the mattresses are wet so we sleep on the ground.” Municipal and ‌civil defence officials said they were unable to cope with the storm ‌because of fuel shortages and damage to equipment.

They said Israel had destroyed hundreds of vehicles, including bulldozers and others used to pump water, during its war against Hamas, which had displaced most of the territory’s more than 2 million residents and left much of Gaza in ruins. Most of the ⁠population now lives in tent camps. Hamas blamed Israel for not allowing shelters and construction materials into Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, did not immediately comment on the accusations by Hamas.

It said in a statement on Friday that it had stepped up efforts to improve sanitary conditions across Gaza before the heavy rain, which had been expected, in coordination with international organisations. The agency said four additional vacuum trucks entered Gaza this week through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), joining eight others brought in over the past month to support ‌sewage pumping, weekly waste removal and repairs to water and sewage infrastructure.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire last year ​called for the eventual reconstruction of Gaza, but little progress has been made. Negotiators have failed to agree ‌on terms for Hamas to disarm or for Israel ⁠to withdraw its troops, which control about two-thirds of the territory and from which residents have ⁠been ordered to leave. “We have no resources, no tarpaulins, no tents and no one is checking on us,” said displaced Gaza resident Rafiq Ghattas, standing barefoot ‌in the middle of a ​large pool of rainwater.

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 ‌people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its ​assault on the territory after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on attacks on October 7, 2023.