Thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians and a hospital were flooded after heavy rainfall in Gaza, triggered by a new low-pressure weather system, early on Tuesday.
According to an Anadolu correspondent, rainwater leaked into sections of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, particularly the reception and emergency department, causing operations to be disrupted.
Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest medical complex of Gaza, had been exposed to numerous Israeli strikes over the course of two years of genocide and sustained severe damage.
Gaza health ministry's rehabilitation efforts following the ceasefire have failed due to Israel’s prevention of the entry of needed equipment.
Witnesses told Anadolu that thousands of tents for displaced people were also flooded and blown away by strong winds that have been hitting the enclave since Monday evening.
"We woke up with the sound of strong winds hitting our tent. We tried to secure it and hold on to it, but the winds uprooted the tent, and all our belongings flew away,” displaced Palestinian Khaled Abdel Aziz told Anadolu.
“I'm outside with my wife and children, sitting in the rain. There is nowhere to shelter," he said.
Hundreds of Palestinians tried to take shelter from rainwater under parts of buildings destroyed by the Israeli army in Gaza, according to witnesses.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Maha Abu Jazar was running haplessly with her three children after rainwater submerged her tent in the Al-Mawasi neighbourhood, west of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Separately, Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal warned that thousands of homes partially destroyed during the Israeli genocide are at risk of collapsing at any moment due to rain and strong winds.
"These homes pose a grave danger to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have found no shelter,” Basal told Anadolu. “We have warned the world repeatedly, but to no avail.”
At least 14 people lost their lives during Storm Byron in Gaza last week. Over 27,000 displacement tents were flooded, swept away by torrents, or torn apart by strong winds, and 13 buildings collapsed across Gaza.
Nearly 250,000 families are currently living in displacement camps across Gaza, many facing cold weather and flooding inside fragile tents, according to the civil defence.
Although a ceasefire took effect on October 10, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to impose strict restrictions on the entry of aid trucks, violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.
Israel has killed more than 70,600 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,100 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.
