When winter storms swept across Gaza over the weekend, they found families already living at the edge of endurance, sheltering in tents that were never built to withstand rain, wind or rising sewage. Among them, a father holds pots beneath leaking canvas while a mother, unable to bear returning to the tent where her child might have died, pays for a half-ruined apartment instead. The tragedy sits within a long human pattern in which the basic shelter of a roof becomes a matter of permission, decided at distant crossings and counted in trucks and pallets. Whether the tents now waiting beyond th
Storms Leave Thousands Exposed in Gaza as 150,000 Tents Wait Outside Israeli-Controlled Entry Points
At least four Palestinians, including children and a woman, were killed, and thousands are left without shelter amid flooding and sewage in tents.
A basic tent blocked by Israel is a manmade and political scarcity
Mark
Why does the number 150,000 matter so much here?
Mimi
Because it shows the shelters exist. They are sitting outside Gaza waiting for approval, while thousands are in flooded tents.
Luke
Careful, though. That figure comes from the UN. The reporting doesn't say how it was independently counted.
Mark
And Israel says it let in 10,000 tents?
Mimi
Yes, last week. The article says that falls far short of the need.
Luke
That 10,000 is Israel's own claim, and the piece doesn't verify it. We also don't hear an Israeli response to the restriction criticism.
Mark
What about the trucks?
Mimi
Gisha says 12 pallets are counted as one truck, though a truck carries about 20. That could mean about a 40 percent shortfall.
Luke
That's one organisation's analysis, and it says 'could.' It's a reasonable flag, not a confirmed total.
Mark
What is certain about the deaths?
Mimi
The health ministry reports a child drowned and three children and their mother died under a sand dune.
Luke
Attributed to the ministry, and the lede says at least four. The exact toll isn't settled in the piece.
The Pulse
- Storms over the weekend killed at least four Palestinians, including children and a woman, as rain and wind tore through fragile tents.
- Some 940,000 people live in flood-prone areas, and sewage is seeping into shelters while pumping stations sit idle without power.
- About 150,000 tents wait outside Gaza for Israeli approval, while only 10,000 have been allowed in and families are left exposed.
- Aid groups warn of hypothermia and respiratory illness as winter deepens, with dual-use restrictions and crossing backlogs squeezing the flow of materials.
- Families are improvising with tarpaulins and pallets that are themselves restricted, and the next weeks will show whether tents are cleared before the coldest months arrive.
When winter storms swept across Gaza over the weekend, they found families already living at the edge of endurance, sheltering in tents that were never built to withstand rain, wind or rising sewage. Among them, a father holds pots beneath leaking canvas while a mother, unable to bear returning to the tent where her child might have died, pays for a half-ruined apartment instead. The tragedy sits within a long human pattern in which the basic shelter of a roof becomes a matter of permission, decided at distant crossings and counted in trucks and pallets. Whether the tents now waiting beyond the border will be allowed to arrive before the cold deepens remains an open question that carries the weight of many lives.
Raed Jamal spent the night at the weekend holding pots under the holes in his tent roof, trying to save what was left of his family's belongings. By morning his children were sick, every piece of clothing was soaked, and he had no money to replace anything. He filmed the night and sent the footage to the Guardian, because watching his family suffer in the cold was more than he could bear.
His night was one of many. Storms over the weekend left tens of thousands of Palestinians in waterlogged or damaged tents. According to the Palestinian health ministry, a child drowned in flood water, and three children and their mother died when a sand dune collapsed onto their tent. Sanitation has been destroyed, and sewage is pushing into shelters, while the pumps that might drain storm water sit idle without power. The UN says 940,000 people live in flood-prone areas with no real protection from heavy rain.
Across the border, 150,000 new tents wait for Israeli approval to enter. Israel said it had allowed in 10,000, far short of what is needed. Shelterbox, which usually supplies emergency tents, says its stock has sat outside Gaza for almost two years, and even the tarpaulins and pallets it uses as stopgaps are being restricted, with toolkits allowed one day and refused the next. Gisha, an Israeli group that campaigns for freer movement, says limits are tighter than in earlier ceasefires and that a truck is counted at 12 pallets when it typically carries about 20.
Nour al-Batsh, mother of a seven-month-old, left her collapsed tent and now shares a partly destroyed apartment, paying $500 a month with help from donations abroad. She can see her old tent from her window. She begs not to go back, because she believes death in that tent is certain. Her fear, and Raed's night of holding pots, are where this winter now stands, with the question of whether the tents will arrive before the cold deepens still unanswered.
Raed Jamal spent the night at the weekend holding pots under the holes in his tent roof, trying to catch the rain before it soaked what was left of his family's belongings. The tent shook in the wind. He filmed it and sent the videos to the Guardian. By morning, he said, all their clothes were wet, his children were sick, and he could not afford to replace anything. Watching them suffer in the cold, he said, was heartbreaking.
His night was one of many across Gaza. Storms over the weekend left tens of thousands of Palestinians in waterlogged or damaged tents, aid agencies say. According to the Palestinian health ministry, a child drowned in flood water, and at least three children and their mother died when a sand dune collapsed onto their tent. Sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed, and sewage has been pushing into people's shelters.
The UN says 26,000 households asked for its help after the rains, and at least 3,900 are now without any shelter at all. It also says 940,000 people in Gaza live in flood-prone areas in makeshift tents with no protection from heavy rain. The risk is higher because the facilities that pump out storm water are not running for lack of power.
Meanwhile, 150,000 new tents are waiting outside Gaza for Israeli approval to enter, according to the UN. Israel said last week it had allowed in 10,000, far short of the need: an estimated 94 percent of Palestinians in Gaza need help finding shelter. Shelterbox, which normally supplies emergency tents, says its stock has sat outside the territory for almost two years. It has been improvising with tarpaulins and wooden pallets, and says even those materials are being restricted. A spokesperson described an unpredictable process: toolkits are allowed in one day and refused the next, with no explanation. The charity also argues that relying on emergency fixes instead of sturdier materials leaves people in shelters that will quickly deteriorate.
This is the second winter since a ceasefire was agreed more than a year ago, and aid workers say conditions are no better than last year. They point to Israeli restrictions on so-called dual-use items and to backlogs at crossings. The Israeli group Gisha, which campaigns for freer movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, says the authorities have imposed tighter limits than in earlier ceasefires and have been opaque about what is allowed. Israel says it lets in an average of 600 trucks a day, but Gisha says it counts 12 pallets as one truck even though a truck typically carries about 20. That could mean a reduction of roughly 40 percent in what could be carried in.
Medical Aid for Palestinians expects more respiratory illness and other problems linked to cold, damp and overcrowding. Mai Elawawda, its communications officer in Gaza, said the group fears more children could die of hypothermia, as happened last winter. The Council for Arab-British Understanding has urged the British government to press Israel to let supplies in and to reverse restrictions on aid workers, including restoring the licences of dozens of organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Its head of parliamentary affairs, Joseph Willits, called a blocked basic tent a manmade and political scarcity.
Nour al-Batsh, mother of a seven-month-old, left her collapsed tent and now shares a partly destroyed apartment with others, paying $500 a month with the help of donations from abroad. She can still see her old tent from where she lives. Autumn has not yet ended, she said, and she begs not to have to go back, because she believes death in that tent is certain.
What to watch is whether more of the 150,000 tents are cleared to enter before the colder months deepen, and whether the power and pumping systems come back.
Notable Quotes
Our medical teams expect more respiratory illnesses, and we fear more children could die from hypothermia, as happened last winter.— Mai Elawawda, Medical Aid for Palestinians
The cold is lethal; death inside that tent is certain.— Nour al-Batsh, displaced mother
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