Displaced Palestinian families suffer as heavy rains flood Gaza tent camps

Displaced Palestinians in shock after heavy rains flooded their tents in makeshift displacement camps in Gaza City, as the United Nations warns that Israeli restrictions on aid have left hundreds of thousands of families without adequate shelter.

Abdulrahman Asaliyah, a displaced Palestinian, told Al Jazeera on Friday that residents’ mattresses, clothes and other personal belongings had been soaked by the floods.

“We are calling for help, for new tents that can at least protect people from the winter cold,” he said, explaining that nearly two dozen people had been working for hours to drain water from the area.

“This winter rain is a blessing from God, but some families do not want it to fall anymore, fearing for the lives of their children and their own survival,” Asaliyah said.

Gaza’s civil defense agency said Friday’s flooding mainly affected Palestinians in the northern Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people returned after last month’s floods. ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Flooding was also reported in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the relief agency, which urged the international community to do more to “respond to the suffering” of Palestinians whose homes were destroyed during Israel’s two-year war against the enclave.

“We call for the rapid delivery of houses, caravans and tents to these displaced families to help alleviate their suffering, especially as we are at the start of winter,” he said in a statement.

Even though the Oct. 10 ceasefire has allowed more aid to arrive in the Gaza Strip, the U.N. and other humanitarian groups say Palestinians still lack adequate food, medicine and other essential supplies, including shelter.

Humanitarian groups working to provide shelter assistance in the occupied Palestinian territory said in early November that around 260,000 Palestinian families, totaling nearly 1.5 million people, were vulnerable as the cold winter months approached.

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said this week it had enough shelter supplies to help up to 1.3 million Palestinians.

But UNRWA said Israel continues to block its efforts to deliver aid to Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement, which stipulated that humanitarian aid should be provided to Palestinians in need.

“We have a very short chance to protect families from the winter rains and cold,” said Angelita Caredda, Middle East and North Africa director at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), in a statement on November 5.

Reporting Friday from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Palestinians across Gaza have expressed fears that this winter will be particularly difficult due to the lack of safe shelter.

“It only rained for a few minutes – about 30 minutes… [and] they were completely flooded,” she said. “Their tents are very fragile and worn; they have been using them for two years.

She added that most Palestinians have no choice but to stay in crowded tent camps or shelters, despite the difficulties.

“We already see Palestinian children walking barefoot. They don’t have winter clothes. They don’t have blankets. And at the same time, the help that’s coming… is restricted,” Khoudary said.

Back in Gaza City, another displaced Palestinian affected by the heavy rains, Abu Ghassan, said he and his family “no longer have a normal life.”

“I lift the mattresses so the children don’t get soaked,” he told Al Jazeera. “But the little ones were already soaked here. We don’t even have real tents.”