Heavy rains across Gaza flood 70,000 tents for displaced people

People in Gaza have been repeatedly displaced through years of Israel's genocidal war and repeated forced eviction orders, leading most to resort to living in flimsy tents through brutal winters.

And rainfall flooded at least 70,000 tents across Gaza on 6 and 7 November, drenching essentials, mattresses, and blankets, local authorities said.

Flooding exacerbates a worsening situation: Research published in August found 1.98 million people—or 94% of Gaza's population—need shelter assistance. (Wrecked buildings are also at risk of collapse.)

And Gaza's municipal departments reported Israel's attacks have broken water pumps and civil defense workers said their vehicles have been damaged where they can't meet every emergency call. There are concerns of disease with the pooling water amid a weak sanitation system hit hard from Israel's war.

The Euro-Med Monitor said "Israel weaponizes cold weather" as authorities still ban entry of essential shelter supplies into the occupied Gaza territory.

"Despite repeated deaths and warnings about the dangers of cold and flooding, the continued denial of protective measures perpetuates the destructive living conditions Israel is imposing on the population as part of the ongoing genocide," the organization said.

A leader in Gaza told AFP that the occupied territory "needs 200,000 prefabricated homes urgently, in addition to the entry of heavy machinery to remove the rubble ... and provide electricity and heating."

Hamas members also urged for the international community to demand Israel allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Welcome to Gaza Notes, a Conflict Journal installment tracking news connected to the occupied Palestinian territory under Israel's war.

In Gaza

Israeli attacks and gunfire continued to violate a purported "ceasefire" and kill people across Gaza through this week. The Israeli military claims it killed a Hamas commander.

Gaza's health ministry said on 6 November that it recorded 260 congenital anomalies in newborns so far in 2026, a 75% increase from 2022, and urged for an investigation into root causes.

For International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority issued a report revealing that Israel's attacks have created 68 million tons of rubble.

The agency also said on 6 November that Israel's actions have threatened an "ecocide" in Gaza with ravaging 82% of agricultural land, 87% of natural olive and fruit trees, 84% of sanitation infrastructure.

In Israel

Israel's military has been upgrading a fence along occupied Gaza with new barriers, geographical terrain work, and security upgrades.

The group of Israeli settlers who started camping in the Simhoni forest outside Gaza are going to be removed from the area for being "unauthorized," the Jerusalem Post reported. Their hope was to live on Palestinian territory.

Around the world

The US held its midterm elections and pro-Palestine groups celebrated the nationally Democratic wins, which included an Egyptian-American surgeon who volunteered in Gaza and the first Muslim Senator-elect "with a mandate on Palestine."

Al Jazeera published a post-elections op-ed with a headline, "it's Gaza, stupid." And president Donald Trump seems to understand as he announced on election day the phasing out of Israeli aid—but the US will still sell military weapons.

In international relations, former British prime minister Tony Blair met with Israeli leaders to discuss the US-brokered Gaza plan on 6 November, and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the agreement from a year ago "is not being implemented."

And Turkey's intelligence chief also said, "There is no Palestine without Gaza, and there is no peace in the Middle East without peace about the Palestinian cause."

"Palestinians are not the problem; the problem is the occupation ... without ending the occupation, there will be no solution, no peace, no justice in the Middle East.”

Voices from Gaza

• "We woke up and found ourselves surrounded by water," a father said to Middle East Eye. "The children were crying. I did not know what to do, and I started crying too."
• "This is the first day of rain, and of course ⁠we are already flooded. What will happen if it rains again the next day? This is only the first ​day and ⁠we’re already overwhelmed," a woman in Gaza City told Reuters.
• "My children ask me where we will sleep tonight, and I have no answer," a mother said to AFP.
• "I felt something hit my lower back and realized it was a bullet," a teacher told Middle East Eye about getting shot during class. "All I remember is the screams of my students before I found myself in hospital."
• "I hope it returns as it was—a market, a paradise, where everyone can come safely," an artist said about the rebuilding of the historic Firas Market.

Additional reading

• Recent developments at the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) raise alarm over "the end of" the organization.
• Israel is blocking the evacuation of 1,100 child amputees who need specialized treatment outside of Gaza, Euro-Med Monitor said.
• Haaretz has a feature (paywall) looking back on "how Israel celebrated its first conquest of Gaza 70 years ago" in 1956.
• People are using pieces of rubble to create electricity-generating wind turbines and old cooking pots to build flood walls.
• Artists talk to The New Arab about continuing to create music despite challenges.
• A large UAE-funded celebration saw 250 couples married at the same time.