Israel’s Arab Joint List warns of worsening Gaza crisis as floods swamp 70,000 tents

Israel’s Arab Joint List warned Saturday that heavy rain and flooding were worsening Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. The remarks came in a statement from the Joint List, which won 12 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, the Knesset, after a storm flooded tens of thousands of tents in the Gaza Strip. The Joint List said the thunderstorm had brought heavy rain and received widespread coverage in the media and on social media. Referring to Gaza, the alliance said one place had barely been mentioned in the coverage and that the flooding there had failed to make headlines.

The Joint List said this was the fourth winter in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza had been forced to survive in tents. It said the rain floods tents each time, leaving residents without shelter and making living conditions unbearable. The alliance warned that mothers, infants and entire families were being left without shelter from the cold and rain amid already dire humanitarian and living conditions. “How long will we keep closing our eyes and ignoring the horrific humanitarian crisis caused there by the destruction, genocide and bombing?” it asked.

The alliance urged people to pay attention to the suffering of Palestinians in the enclave, closing its statement with the words, “Don’t look away. Eyes on Gaza.” Earlier Saturday, medical sources told Anadolu that four Palestinians were injured when two walls collapsed at buildings damaged by previous Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza. Gaza’s Media Office said Saturday that 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians had been flooded within 12 hours of the storm’s onset and that dozens of walls damaged by Israeli strikes had collapsed.

The office put preliminary direct losses from the storm at about $3 million. The storm hit as humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate in Gaza following Israel’s genocidal war, which began in October 2023 and caused widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure. Although a ceasefire has been in effect since Oct. 10, 2025, shelter and reconstruction needs still far exceed available aid amid continued Israeli violations and restrictions on the entry of supplies and equipment into the enclave.​​​​​​​