More than 13,000 Palestinian tents were partially or completely destroyed by heavy downpours, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.
The downpour only added another suffering of the palestinian’s Gaza which was destroyed by Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks for more than two years.
“Many of these displacement sites are pitched in open areas or the ruins of many of the destroyed buildings here [in Gaza],” said Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Hani Mahmoud.
READ ALSO: Israel’s Deadly Airstrikes Kill 3 in Gaza, as Iran Executes Man for Spying for Tel Aviv
Due to winter, Gaza has already been subjected to worsening weather conditions.
“Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen strong wind, heavy rainfall and plummeting temperatures here, turning many of the displacement areas here into pools of muddy water,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.
“We have areas that have been completely submerged by water, areas that were flooded by the heavy rainfall that was mixed with sewage water as well, making it very dangerous for people here.”
These conditions have reduced whole families to scooping muddy water from their tents using only buckets and holding down their tents using other rudimentary tools such as rocks and blocks, in the hopes of protecting the few belongings they have left.
“All the tents are destroyed. Our tents are just made of fabric. Our children are drowning. There’s nothing for us to wear, no clothes to put on,” Assmaa Fayad, a displaced Palestinian, told Al Jazeera.
However, Gaza’s Government Media Office has said only an average of 145 trucks have been entering Gaza since the ceasefire.
The UNHCR said in a post on social media that “thousands of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip are struggling to find safe shelter in preparation for the coming cold weather”. “More shelter materials are still needed,” it added.
Aid organisations say that at least 300,000 mobile homes and tents are needed to house displaced people.