UN agency warns displaced Gazans facing flooding as emergency supplies blocked

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans are facing flooding in their tents and shelters from heavy rains, and shelter materials and sandbags are being barred from entering the enclave, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said on Friday.

Torrential rain swept through the Gaza Strip on Thursday, flooding tents sheltering families displaced by two years of war and leading to the death of a girl from exposure, local health officials said.

A total of 12 people were killed or missing as a result of the storm, with at least 13 buildings collapsed and 27,000 tents flooded, the media office of the Hamas-run Gaza government said.

A displaced Palestinian cleans up muddy water in a flooded tent camp on a rainy day in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, December 12, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS

Nearly 795,000 displaced people are at increased risk of potentially dangerous flooding in low-lying, rubble-strewn areas where families live in unsafe shelters, the IOM said. Inadequate sanitation and waste management also increased the risk of disease, the UN agency added.

“Our food is ruined,” says the flood-affected father

Materials to help strengthen shelters, such as lumber and plywood, as well as sandbags and water pumps to help with flooding, have been delayed in entering Gaza due to access restrictions, the IOM said.

Israel says it is fulfilling its obligations and accuses the agencies of inefficiency and failure to prevent theft by Hamas, which the group denies. COGAT, Israel’s military arm that oversees humanitarian affairs, was not immediately available for comment.

In a displaced persons camp in Nuseirat, central Gaza, ankle-deep water had pooled around tents, soaking mattresses, shoes and clothes. Working with a bucket, 50-year-old Youssef Tawtah tried to rescue the water, but he had nowhere to go and appeared to be making little progress.

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“All night long the children and I were on our feet,” he said. “How are the children to handle it?”
As his family gathered around a small open fire on a sandy bank near the tent, he drew a layer of floodwaters. Even cooking a meal will be difficult. “Our food is ruined,” he said.

Supplies can’t withstand floods, says IOM

Supplies already sent to Gaza, including waterproof tents, thermal blankets and tarpaulins, were unable to withstand the floods, the IOM added.

“After this storm made landfall yesterday, families are scrambling to protect their children with everything they have,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope.

A ceasefire has been broadly observed since October, but the war has destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure and living conditions are dire. UN and Palestinian officials have said at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced.

The World Health Organization said more than 4,000 people live in high-risk coastal areas, with 1,000 people directly affected by high sea waves.
He warned of health risks from pollution. “Thousands of families have taken refuge in these low-lying and debris-filled coastal areas, with no drainage or protective barriers, with piles of rubbish everywhere along the roads,” said WHO spokesman Rick Pipercorn.