Displaced Gaza residents face more misery as torrential rain lashes enclave

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza – Mr Hussein Owada has spent much of the past two days in a losing battle to prevent his tattered tent in the southern Gaza Strip from flooding as heavy rainfall pummelled the devastated enclave.

“The rain was heavy and the holes were too many. Our mattresses and blankets were flooded,” said Mr Owada, 23, who lives in the tent with his parents and three younger siblings.

“I have no plan. I gave up planning a long time ago. With zero resources, planning is meaningless,” he added. “We are just trying to survive here.”

The punishing rain and chilling winds that have swept through Gaza since Nov 14 are a bitter reminder that despite

a ceasefire that went into effect in October

, life remains far from normal for the enclave’s two million people.

After more than two years of a war set off by the Hamas-led Oct 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, many in Gaza are still displaced and staying in tent camps without access to running water or electricity.

Roughly 1.5 million people are in need of “emergency shelter items”, according to the United Nations, which also assessed that the war damaged or destroyed about 81 per cent of all structures in the enclave.

In some places, the Israeli military razed large areas of the territory, leaving many homeless.

The UN has estimated that rebuilding Gaza will cost about US$70 billion (S$90.9 billion), and there are major political obstacles to overcome before that can even begin.

The Trump administration has said no funding for reconstruction will flow to the half of the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas.

Israeli forces are still deployed in the other half of Gaza, including in the city of Rafah, which was largely destroyed during the war.

Israel and Hamas have yet to reach an agreement on a clear timeline for Israel to withdraw from those areas.

As the rains began beating down on Nov 14, some tents and other makeshift shelters were quickly flooded, according to the UN’s humanitarian affairs office in Jerusalem and Gaza residents interviewed by The New York Times.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel is obligated to allow hundreds of trucks of supplies, including food, aid and materials used for shelter, into Gaza every day.

This has helped blunt the hunger crisis that hit much of the enclave during the war, driving down prices of essential goods like rice, flour and sugar.

The Israeli military agency that regulates humanitarian aid to Gaza, known as Cogat, said this past week that it had allowed in more than 90,000 tarps and tents over the past few months.

Israel is working on a “catered humanitarian response” for the coming winter, Cogat added.

But aid agencies say Israel has not let in enough shelter and heating supplies to allow people staying in tents to prepare.

Some equipment is unavailable, like tools to drain water away and to clear solid waste and rubble, according to the UN.

Ms Maha Aloul, 42, spent the night of Nov 14 trying to save her family’s blankets and clothing by placing them in the one corner of their tent that was not leaking.

Originally from Gaza City, she has been displaced to Muwasi, a coastal area.

A new tent for her and her five children would be prohibitively expensive, Ms Aloul said, given how high the demand is.

Even buying wood to light a fire can be beyond her means, she added.

“We just waited until the morning, hoping for some sun to dry off our stuff. But it’s now raining again,” she said.

In Al-Zawayda, in central Gaza, some displaced families are huddled in fragile, improvised tents pulled together from sheets of tarp and worn blankets.

Ms Aisha al-Qudeiry, 35, said a hush descended across the camp when the first dark clouds appeared on the horizon this past week.

Many feared the wave of cold and wind that would soon batter them.

Originally from the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, which was largely destroyed in the war, she now stays in the tent camp with her young son and daughter.

Without access to electricity, Ms al-Qudeiry, like many in Gaza, must cook over an open fire. The torrential rain has made that even harder, she said.

Cooking gas, though still available in the enclave, is more expensive than before the war.

“How can we live like this? It is another kind of suffering that no one seems to care about,” Ms al-Qudeiry said. “We have endured more than enough.” NYTIMES