In Gaza, the rains flood thousands of tents and leave the displaced homeless

Families leaving their tents, wet mattresses and fragile buildings that collapse: the diluvian rains on Gaza on Saturday, November 7, 2026 again deprive tens of thousands of displaced people, according to local authorities. Hundreds of families were seen fleeing camps in the central and northern parts of the territory, as well as Gaza City. 20 Minutes, the RTS and South West describe the same episode, also covered by Reuters and Anadolu. [S2] [S3] [S6] [S11] [S12]

An important, still incomplete balance sheet

The Hamas-controlled government press office announces about 70,000 tents flooded during the first day of the depression. Reuters, in a report published by NBC News, reports the same order of magnitude over twelve hours. These publications are based on the same administrative source and therefore do not constitute independent confirmations of the count. The exact number of persons deprived of a usable shelter remains unknown. [S6] [S11]

This office also reports the collapse of dozens of cracked walls and roofs, with several injured, some in a serious condition. Anadolu reports, based on medical sources, five wounded, including two women, after the fall of two walls and a sheet metal in the north and central Gaza. This survey does not necessarily constitute a comprehensive assessment. Reuters indicated that no deaths had been reported at the time of his report. [S6] [S11] [S12]

Counts of collapsed buildings also differ: Reuters mentions three abandoned houses, while Anadolu describes four interventions on damaged buildings, without injury in these specific incidents. In the absence of any correspondence between these surveys, they cannot be added together or confused with the fall of walls and sheet metal which caused casualties. [S11] [S12]

Families act, without lasting solution

In western Gaza, 45-year-old Umm Mohamed al-Hersh tells AFP that his family was able to preserve his mattresses and that all his clothes were soaked. In Deir al-Balah, Maryam Odeh, 34, summarizes the immediate uncertainty: "My children are asking me where we are going to sleep tonight and I have no answer. » [S2] [S6]

Reuters' report describes residents repairing their tents, using sand to prevent water from entering or bringing their children out of flooded shelters. These gestures show an ability to act, but also its material limitations: Olfat Magdoub explains that her wet bedding forced her to sleep on the ground. For these families, protecting their loved ones also depends on access to dry shelter and available equipment. [S11]

Help exceeded by requests

The Civil Defence, which operates under the authority of Hamas, claims to have received more than 1,500 emergency calls during the night in the AFP articles. Anadolu reports another count of this organization: 2,166 calls since Friday night, of which only 218 have received an operational response. Since counting periods are not presented in the same way, these figures do not allow direct comparison. They show, according to the aid, a major gap between the demands and their response capabilities. [S6] [S12]

Municipal and Civil Defence officials have cited fuel shortages and damaged equipment. International aid is sought. A coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations is also alerting the risk of disease spread. This is a warning: the articles consulted do not establish the existence of an epidemic caused by this rainy episode. [S6] [S11]

Access to shelters at the core of responsibilities

Mustapha Qazzaat, Gaza City Councillor and Head of the Territory's Emergency Commission, accuses the Israeli authorities of preventing the entry of prefabricated houses and limiting the entry of tents since the October 2025 ceasefire. It claims 200,000 caravans, scrapping equipment and the restoration of electricity and heating. This volume is a request from this official, not an independent needs assessment. [S3] [S6]

According to Reuters, COGAT, an Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid, had not responded immediately to Hamas' accusations about the entry of shelters. However, he said that he had strengthened health preparations before the rains: four additional pumping trucks had reportedly entered this week through the International Committee of the Red Cross, after eight more in the previous month. [S11]

This statement provides an element on sanitation, but does not specifically address the question of tents and prefabricated housing. The sources consulted do not detail the justification for the restrictions reported or a rehousing schedule for the families interviewed. The concrete urgency remains to find a place to sleep dry, while their already precarious protections have become unusable. [S3] [S6] [S11]