Winter Season in Gaza Starts With Heavy Rain: What Was It Like the First Rain for Displaced Families After Two Years of Israeli Genocide?

Displaced Palestinian families in Gaza woke up to find water flooding their tents, after heavy rainfall left their shelters and belongings soaked. It is now the third winter they have endured since the start of the two-year Israeli genocide.

Videos and photos circulating on social media show displaced families’ tents flooded by rain on Friday and Saturday, with mattresses, blankets, and personal belongings soaked.

People were also seen taking shelter from the rain with little clothing to protect them. Videos showed the displaced trying to remove large amounts of water from their tents with buckets.

Officials in Gaza have received “hundreds of pleas for help,” Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for Gaza Civil Defense on Friday, said “but the resources are nonexistent.”

“Entire shelter centers have seen water levels rise to more than 10 centimeters (3.94 inches). Mattresses are soaked, blankets are drenched and there are no options left, because every option has been destroyed by Israel,” he said.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)’s Communications Officer in Gaza Mai Elawawda described Friday as “one of the hardest days in Gaza since the ceasefire.”

“Early this morning, heavy rain flooded the tents of displaced families, along with the few belongings they still have. Most of these families are surviving in completely worn-out tents that have travelled with them through two years of nonstop Israeli attacks and forced displacement. Frayed under the sun, these tents are now collapsing with the first signs of winter,” Elawawda said in a statement.

Videos showed two main hospitals in Gaza City flooded with rainwater.

“It was one of the coldest nights, with heavy rain and strong winds. It was unbearable. Where is the blind world that can see us and help us?” Mariam Abu Asr told Quds News Network from her dilapidated tent in the Sheikh Redwan neighborhood in central Gaza City.

She continued, “For two consecutive days and nights, we woke up to rain flooding our tent. My children tremble from the cold. We have no clothes, and not enough blankets.”

Nadeen Saeed said, “I hugged my one-year-old baby all night to keep him warm. We shared a single blanket. We were both trembling, and I cried from the pain.”