Rainwater floods Gaza’s largest hospital
Heavy rainfall flooded, at dawn on Tuesday, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip as well as thousands of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, while hundreds of tents were swept away by strong winds caused by a storm system that has been battering the territory since Monday evening.
This marks the second weather depression to hit Gaza in less than a week. The first, the polar storm known as “Biron,” resulted in the deaths of 14 Palestinians and caused the complete or partial damage and flooding of 53,000 tents, further exacerbating the suffering of the population.
Correspondents reported that rainwater seeped into several departments of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, particularly the admissions and emergency department, leading to a suspension of operations there.
Al-Shifa Medical Complex is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. It suffered extensive destruction, bombardment, and burning of all its buildings during the Israeli war in Gaza.
Over the past two months, the Gaza Ministry of Health has worked to rehabilitate some of the hospital’s buildings following the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement on 10 October 2025. However, the scale of the damage and the lack of resources have prevented a full return to normal operations, especially amid Israeli restrictions on the entry of medical supplies, equipment, and medicines.
In a related development, eyewitnesses said that thousands of tents sheltering displaced people were flooded by rainwater or blown away by the strong winds that have been affecting the territory since Monday evening.
They added that thousands of Palestinians woke up at dawn on Tuesday to find their tents submerged by rainwater or torn apart by the wind, along with their belongings.
Palestinian Khaled Abdelaziz said: “We woke up to the sound of fierce winds hitting our tent. We tried to secure it and hold it down with our hands, but the wind ripped it away and all our belongings were scattered.”
He added: “I am currently sitting outdoors with my wife and children under the rain. There is nowhere for us to go.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian Maha Abu Jazar was seen running with her three children without a clear destination after rainwater completely flooded their tent in the Al-Mawassi area, west of the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to witnesses, hundreds of Palestinians sought shelter from the rain under parts of buildings destroyed by the Israeli army in Gaza City.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, warned that thousands of homes partially destroyed during the Israeli war are at risk of collapsing at any moment due to heavy rainfall and strong winds.
Bassal said: “These homes pose a serious threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have found no shelter. We have repeatedly warned the world, but to no avail.”
During the first storm, official data indicated that at least 13 buildings damaged by the Israeli war collapsed on top of their occupants, who had taken refuge inside to escape the cold and rain.
This comes amid Israel’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the ceasefire agreement in force since 10 October and its humanitarian protocol, including the entry of shelter materials, 300,000 tents, and mobile housing units, as repeatedly affirmed by Gaza’s Government Media Office.
