In brief
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the weekend's heavy rains intensified Gaza's humanitarian crisis, with widespread flooding and shelter collapse. Humanitarian partners are working amid exhausted supplies, and UN officials demanded urgent funding and lifted restrictions. A report from Action For Humanity added that 70,000 tents were flooded, underscoring the scale.
On November 9, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that heavy rains over the weekend had significantly worsened Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation, indicating floods, collapsed shelters and the near depletion of emergency supplies.
The downpour began late Friday and, according to OCHA reports, caused widespread flooding, the collapse of damaged buildings and disrupted essential services across the Strip. An infant reportedly drowned in the deluge, and a sandy hill collapsed onto tents, killing three children and two women, while thousands of families lost shelters and belongings.
Over the course of the emergency response, humanitarian partners mobilized immediately to assess needs, distribute emergency supplies, reinforce displacement sites with sandbags, repair shelters where possible and deliver water and other essentials. Nevertheless, OCHA noted that “humanitarian stocks of tents, tarpaulins, blankets and clothes inside Gaza are virtually exhausted.”
Challenges to Relief Operations
OCHA has stressed that “our teams are working with far too little equipment and too few shelter materials for the scale of the need,” according to the office. The agency added that “humanitarian funding and Israeli approvals are urgently needed so that enough supplies and machinery can be brought into Gaza, including vacuum trucks, mobile dewatering pumps, engine oil, hoses and heavy machinery.” It further reported that more than 150,000 tents purchased by humanitarian partners and UN member states were “outside Gaza ready for dispatch.”
UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Ramiz Alakbarov, said Monday in Ramallah that while rain is natural, people’s vulnerability is “man‑made.” He noted that hostilities have devastated homes and essential infrastructure, and that tight Israeli restrictions have limited preparations and access to areas away from the flood‑prone shoreline. He called for the urgent lifting of all unnecessary restrictions and delays, including those preventing humanitarian organisations from bringing enough supplies into Gaza.
The United Nations also highlighted that airstrikes continued to hit populated areas, causing additional casualties, and underscored the need for a coordinated effort to protect civilians and improve resilience to environmental shocks.
Meanwhile, independent nonprofit Action For Humanity reported that heavy rainfall had flooded 70,000 tents across Gaza, leaving displaced families exposed to harsh winter conditions and amplifying the urgency of providing shelter and protection.
Amid these reports, the international community faces calls to release additional funding, expedite transport and operational approvals, and develop longer‑term strategies to strengthen shelter infrastructure and disaster preparedness in the Gaza Strip. The UN’s latest warning underscores the immediate and growing humanitarian deficits caused by a combination of natural weather events and constrained relief operations, highlighting the complexity of delivering timely aid to a population already under severe strain from conflict and limited access.