The unrelenting winter rain and cold sweeping across Gaza this weekend has compounded the suffering of a displaced and besieged population, with homes collapsing on families and waterlogged tents providing little refuge from the elements. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels for a meeting with US President Donald Trump regarding the stalled ceasefire, Palestinians face what aid agencies describe as a new "catastrophic situation" layered upon more than two years of devastating war.
For hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families living in makeshift tent camps, each new storm brings fresh misery. In Deir al-Balah, fathers brace flimsy shelters with scavenged wood, while inside, children play on mildewing carpets as daylight streams through holes in the tarpaulin like stars. "We have been living in this tent for two years," said Shaima Wadi, a mother of four displaced from Jabaliya. "Every time it rains and the tent collapses over our heads, we try to put up new pieces of wood". In Khan Younis, families woke to find their tents submerged by ankle-deep water, with soaked blankets and mattresses ruined.
The consequences are deadly. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 15 people, including babies, died from hypothermia in December, while others were killed when war-damaged buildings collapsed under the heavy rain. The Hamas-run Government Media Office reported that 20 people had been killed by such collapses just over the recent weekend, with 49 buildings falling since the onset of winter. Emergency workers warn people not to shelter in damaged structures, but with an estimated 80% of Gaza's buildings destroyed or damaged, safe alternatives simply do not exist.
This immediate weather emergency unfolds within the context of what the United Nations has determined to be a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Human rights organizations state that the catastrophic conditions are a direct result of Israeli policy. The UN's top humanitarian official has condemned Israel's blockade of aid as a "cruel collective punishment" of the civilian population, a strategy he says is designed to pressure Hamas.
This policy includes the systematic obstruction of life-saving assistance. Despite the ceasefire agreement that envisioned a surge in humanitarian aid, deliveries of shelter materials remain woefully inadequate. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) stated that aid is "not being allowed in at the scale required," leaving people to survive "in flimsy, waterlogged tents & among ruins". Aid groups report that the number of tents and tarps that have entered Gaza meets only a fraction of the immense need.
Against this backdrop, diplomatic efforts to solidify the ceasefire and address the root causes of the crisis have slowed to a crawl. Netanyahu's meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago is aimed at discussing the challenging second phase of the truce, which includes the deployment of an international force, the formation of a new governing body, and further Israeli withdrawals. However, significant obstacles remain, with Israel refusing to advance while the remains of the final hostage are still in Gaza, and Hamas citing the destruction as an impediment to locating them.
Meanwhile, violence and collective punishment continue. In the occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya, Israeli forces imposed a strict curfew, sealed off entrances, and took over Palestinian homes to use as military interrogation centers following a deadly attack in Israel. Rights groups condemn such measures, including the demolition of attackers' family homes, as illegal collective punishment. This pattern of targeting extends to silencing the press; a report by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate found that Israeli forces have killed at least 706 family members of Palestinian journalists since 2023, a tactic described as a "war aimed at silencing Palestinian reporting".