Storms Flood Gaza Camps, Deepen Crisis

Heavy rains and strong winds battered the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding displacement camps and exacerbating the hardships faced by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in makeshift tents after more than two years of war. In areas like Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, families waded through ankle-deep puddles, propping up frayed shelters with scavenged wood as water seeped into blankets and mattresses. A polar low-pressure system, the third this winter, brought gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour and temperatures dropping to around 10 degrees Celsius, with another storm forecast to arrive on Monday.

Displaced residents described desperate efforts to stay dry and warm. "We drowned last night," said Majdoleen Tarabein, who fled Rafah and now lives in a Khan Younis camp, pointing to mud-caked belongings after her tent partially collapsed. In Deir al-Balah, Shaima Wadi, a mother of four originally from Jabaliya, said her family has endured tent life for two years. "Every time it rains and the tent collapses over our heads, we try to put up new pieces of wood," she explained. "With how expensive everything has become, and without any income, we can barely...