'Even a dog can't live like this': Rain heaps misery on Palestinians in Gaza

At a Gaza camp for those forced to leave their homes by the war between Israel and Hamas, Ayman al Jueidi tried to shift the pooling rainwater weighing down his makeshift shelter.

As he went along, Ayman stopped to catch a few drops in his mouth and splash a little on himself.

Like many others caught in the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, he had not showered for days.

But on Tuesday those in the south woke up to yet another scourge: rain soaking their meagre belongings and threatening to bring waterborne diseases as it gathers in stagnating puddles.

"We are completely soaked, all of our clothes are soaked, our mattresses, our blankets too, even a dog could not live like this," said Ayman, who has set himself up in the courtyard of a UN school in Rafah at the southern extremity of Gaza.

Those with access to waterproof sheeting are shoring up their makeshift homes. Others are using plastic bags to strengthen their defences against the rain.

"My children's clothes are drenched and I have nothing for them to change into, they will get sick," said Jueidi, wearing only a thin t-shirt as the weather turned chilly.

"Where will we sleep? We haven't eaten anything for three days."

UNRWA gives the family "cans of food and biscuits, but our children are never full, we need bread", he said.

"We had no water, and then suddenly we were drowned," said Souha Hassan, who has lived under a tent since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israelis.

Since then, the Israeli army has bombarded Gaza day and night, killing more than 11,200 people, mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

The UN has said each of its school shelters in the south of Gaza is now packed with some 6,000 displaced people.

UN officials said 125 people were sharing each toilet in the beleaguered south, with more than 700 sharing each shower.

Fuel crisis

The UN has warned of an impending cholera crisis stemming from a lack of fuel, which it has said will bring its aid operations to a halt by Wednesday.

Potable water can no longer be trucked in, sewage pumps cannot be fuelled, and hospitals relying on generators are starting to shut down.

"In the next 48 hours, it just comes to a halt, there's nothing that we can do," said UNRWA's Gaza chief Thomas White.

"That's the reality of an aid operation that's being strangled of resources to serve people in need."

Hassan feared the worst is yet to come. "We don't have any winter clothes because we left our homes without anything and now all our things are soaked," she said.

"And this is only the beginning. What will happen in the winter, when the rain will be stronger still? Our children are already weak because they don't eat enough, it will be terrible."

Around her, despite the risks, some people tried to make use of the rain. One man collected water pouring out of gutters.

Another sought to block a trickle of water falling on a woman baking bread over a small wood fire.

In Gaza, completely besieged by Israel, bags of flour are now selling for some $200.