Medics told Reuters that torrential rain late on Sunday washed away a rocky sand bank beside a camp south of Deir al-Balah. A woman and two of her children, aged 8 and 6, were killed, along with a fourth child aged 4; six others were injured. Video verified by Reuters showed residents breaking up large sandy rocks with hammers and digging with shovels and flashlights to search for people trapped underneath. Counts varied slightly between reports as the rescue continued, and Gaza's Civil Defense later put the toll at six. OCHA also reported that an infant drowned at a displacement site.
The storm flooded at least 70,000 tents within its first hours, according to Gaza's Government Media Office — soaking mattresses and blankets for tens of thousands of families, many displaced repeatedly and now facing a fourth winter in tents. Civil Defense said water reached 1.5 metres in some locations and that dozens of displacement sites and entire residential areas were flooded. By November 8, humanitarian partners had received appeals from more than 26,000 households whose shelters or belongings were damaged, and OCHA said the overall impact is believed to be greater.
Oxfam's response lead in Gaza, Wassem Mushtaha, called the conditions "abhorrent" and said severe flooding had displaced around 100,000 people. OCHA said more than 150,000 tents bought by humanitarian partners and Member States are outside Gaza ready to be dispatched — including about 117,000 from the Egyptian Relief Committee in Al-Arish — and that partners urgently need more approvals to bring in shelter items, engine oil, spare parts and heavy machinery.
For Arab families in America watching relatives endure another winter in tents, the message from aid groups is the same: the rain itself was not the only danger — it is the lack of safe shelter to withstand it.
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