David Patrick

Gaza emergency services issue urgent call as winter downpours submerge displacement camps —— Gaza’s civil defense agency issued an urgent appeal for international mobilization on Saturday after a severe winter storm swept through the enclave, submerging entire displacement camps and destroying makeshift shelters housing hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians. Emergency crews reported receiving over 1,500 distress calls across the Gaza Strip as torrential rain and strong winds swept away makeshift canvas tents and brought floodwaters inside temporary shelters. The agency warned that civil defense personnel are unable to manage the compounding crisis due to the deliberate Israeli blockade preventing the entry of heavy machinery, water pumps, fuel, and replacement shelter supplies. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the civil defense director stressed that women and children are currently stranded in flooded camps as floodwaters drown encampments and destroy family belongings. Humanitarian groups emphasize that the catastrophe is a direct consequence of ongoing Israeli restrictions on basic relief materials and infrastructure rehabilitation following months of widespread destruction, leaving over 90 percent of Gaza's population exposed to severe winter weather in dilapidated and unsealed shelters.