December 11, 2025
RED FM News Desk
Winter storm Byron swept across Gaza on Thursday, drenching crowded tent camps and plunging temperatures, underscoring how two months of ceasefire have done little to ease the deepening humanitarian emergency.
Rain soaked families’ belongings and food supplies, while children waded through knee-deep muddy water that filled the camps. Trucks crawled through the flooded areas to avoid sending waves of filth into the tents, and heaps of garbage and sewage spilled into the waterlogged pathways.
“We have been drowned. I don’t have clothes to wear and we have no mattresses left,” said Um Salman Abu Qenas, a displaced woman in a Khan Younis camp. She said her family couldn’t sleep overnight as water poured into their tent.
Aid organizations say that shelter assistance entering Gaza during the truce remains far below what is required. Israeli military data released recently indicates the country has not met the ceasefire commitment of permitting 600 trucks of aid per day into Gaza — a conclusion Israel disputes.
Cold and overcrowded conditions are increasing the risk of disease, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned on X, saying the suffering could be alleviated with unrestricted delivery of humanitarian supplies, medical aid, and proper shelter.
In the Khan Younis camp area known as Muwasi, Sabreen Qudeeh said her family woke up to water leaking through the tent roof and soaking their mattresses. “My little daughters were screaming,” she said.
The storm also impacted Israel, where floods in the south-central region trapped more than a dozen people in cars. Israel’s emergency service, MDA, said two schoolchildren were slightly injured when a tree fell on their building.
The stark contrast between the two sides highlighted the massive destruction Gaza has suffered during the Israel-Hamas war. With most homes destroyed and nearly all 2 million residents displaced, vast stretches of makeshift tents now cover the territory, many lacking proper drainage or sanitation, with toilets dug into shallow pits near living areas.
Palestinian Civil Defense said at least three buildings in Gaza City, already damaged by Israeli strikes, partially collapsed under the rain. The agency warned people to avoid unstable structures and reported receiving more than 2,500 distress calls from across Gaza over damaged shelters.
“We cannot control anything,” said Abu Mohammad Abu Taha, who spent the night pleading for help from civil defense and local officials. “No one is answering. We want anyone to come rescue us so that things don’t get worse than they already are.”
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