Floodwaters devastate Gaza camps amid ongoing humanitarian crisis

Rains drenched Gaza's tent camps and winds froze the Palestinians huddling inside them Thursday as storm Byron descended on the war-battered territory, showing how two months of ceasefire have failed to sufficiently address the spiraling crises.

Children’s sandaled feet disappeared under opaque brown water that flooded the camps. Trucks moved slowly to avoid sending waves of mud toward the tents. Piles of garbage and sewage turned to waterfalls.

By all accounts, including figures from COGAT, the Israeli military body charged with coordinating aid into Gaza, Israel has not met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day. And aid groups say the shelter aid let into Gaza during the truce so far is far from enough.

“Cold, overcrowded, and unsanitary environments heighten the risk of illness and infection,” said the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in a terse statement posted on X. “This suffering could be prevented by unhindered humanitarian aid, including medical support and proper shelter."

In Israel, heavy rains fell and flood warnings were in effect in several parts of the country — but no major weather-related emergencies were reported as of midday.

The contrasting scenes with Gaza made clear how profoundly the Israel-Hamas war had damaged the territory, destroying the majority of homes and displacing hundreds of thousands into tent camps without adequate flooding infrastructure and with cesspits dug near tents as toilets.

Displaced Ahmad Abu Taha, who has a tent by the beach, said that the

”water flooded all the tents here. There was a tent that was washed away. Conditions are very bad, we have old people, displaced, and sick people inside this camp.”

The Palestinian Civil Defense, part of the Hamas-run government, said that since the storm began they have received more than 2,500 distress calls from citizens whose tents and shelters were damaged in all parts of the Gaza Strip.

Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal said many people's tents have become worn out after the two-year war, and people cannot find new places to shelter.

He said Gaza also needs the rehabilitation of hospitals, the entry of heavy machinery to remove rubble, and the opening of the Rafah crossing — which remains closed after Israel said last week it would open in a few days.

Aid groups say that Israel is not allowing enough aid into Gaza to begin rebuilding the territory after years of war.

Under the agreement, Israel agreed to comply with aid stipulations from an earlier January 2025 truce, which specified that it allow 600 trucks of aid each day into Gaza and an agreed-upon number of temporary homes and tents. It maintains it is doing so, though AP has found that some of its own figures call that into question.

COGAT said Dec. 9, without providing evidence, that it had “lately" let 260,000 tents and tarpaulins into Gaza and over 1,500 trucks of blankets and warm clothing.

The Shelter Cluster, international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, sets the number lower.

It says UN and international NGOs have gotten 15,590 tents into Gaza since the truce began, and other countries have sent about 48,000. Many of the tents are not properly insulated, the Cluster says.

Amjad al-Shawa, Gaza chief of the Palestinian NGO Network, told Al Jazeera Thursday that only a fraction of the 300,000 tents needed had entered Gaza.

He said that Palestinians were in dire need of warmer winter clothes and accused Israel of blocking the entry of water pumps helpful to clear flooded shelters.

"All international sides should take the responsibility regarding conditions in Gaza,” he said. “There is real danger for people in Gaza at all levels.”

COGAT did not immediately respond to request for comment on the claims that Israel was not allowing water pumps of heavy machinery into Gaza.