Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least three people while torrential rains have flooded makeshift camps and shelters used by thousands displaced after their homes were destroyed. UNRWA says about 13,000 families now face freezing, flooded conditions, and more than 80% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Aid deliveries remain constrained by Israeli restrictions despite UN warehouses holding supplies sufficient for thousands of trucks. Violence has continued during the ceasefire period, with deaths reported in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Strikes Kill at Least Three in Gaza as Torrential Rains Devastate Makeshift Shelters
Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least three people while torrential rains have flooded makeshift camps and shelters used by thousands displaced after their homes were destroyed. UNRWA says about 13,000 families now face freezing, flooded conditions, and more than 80% of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Aid deliveries remain constrained by Israeli restrictions despite UN warehouses holding supplies sufficient for thousands of trucks. Violence has continued during the ceasefire period, with deaths reported in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
02:33 AM, 11/17/2025Conflict
At least three killed as heavy rains and restricted aid compound Gaza's humanitarian crisis
The Israeli military struck multiple locations across Gaza on Sunday, killing at least three Palestinians while torrential rains flooded flimsy, makeshift tents that shelter thousands whose homes were destroyed. The coastal enclave’s displaced population faces mounting danger as shelter, relief supplies and basic services remain constrained.
A source at the Nasser Medical Complex told Al Jazeera the three fatalities were recorded after strikes east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Israeli fire was also reported in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood and near Rafah in the south.
Al Jazeera correspondent Ibrahim al-Khalili reported from Gaza City that the army continued to target positions inside the so-called “yellow line” — the demarcation marking where troops reportedly pulled back under the ceasefire — placing families near the line at increased risk. He said the situation was “going from bad to worse,” with residential demolitions and ongoing strikes intensifying panic just as heavy storms inundate fragile shelters.
“It’s been raining for two days and people are telling us that everything has started to leak,” said Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud. “Many displacement camps are at a lower elevation than surrounding areas, allowing water to run in from all sides. Some areas are completely submerged.”
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said some 13,000 families whose homes were destroyed during two years of sustained bombardment are exposed to freezing temperatures and flooding in shelters that are plainly inadequate. UN figures indicate more than 80 percent of buildings and housing units in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since the war began.
UNRWA communications director Tamara Alrifai said Israeli authorities are restricting items they consider dual-use — preventing many urgently needed goods, including tents and mobile homes, from entering Gaza. She added that UNRWA has supplies in warehouses in Egypt and Jordan sufficient to fill roughly 6,000 aid trucks, but faces heightened scrutiny and extra restrictions compared with other agencies.
Caroline Seguin, Gaza emergency coordinator at Doctors Without Borders (MSF), described nights of fear as flooding forces people out of sleeping areas. “In Gaza, it is a luxury to spend the night in a dry place,” she said, adding that bringing tents, medicine and other aid into Gaza remains “very complicated” because of administrative barriers.
Displaced residents conveyed the same urgency. Abdulrahman Asaliyah told Al Jazeera: “All the tents have been flooded — people’s mattresses, food, water, clothes. Everything has been soaked. We are calling for help for new tents that can at least protect people from the winter cold.”
Since the start of the ceasefire last month, media and local agencies report at least 266 people killed and 635 wounded by Israeli attacks — figures that add to a death toll now reported to be approaching 70,000. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet he did not know how long the ceasefire would hold and said Israel was still awaiting the recovery of the remains of three captives allegedly held by Hamas.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it has been working with the Red Cross to locate the remains of captives under rubble. Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to a Palestinian state ahead of a UN Security Council vote on a US-drafted resolution referring to a “credible pathway” toward Palestinian statehood and proposing an international stabilization force for Gaza.
Violence in the occupied West Bank persisted. Israeli raids on two refugee camps reportedly left two young Palestinians dead: 15-year-old Jadallah Jihad Jumaa Jadallah was shot during a raid on Far’a camp, and Hassan Sharkasi was killed during an operation in the Askar refugee camp, according to local agencies and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Humanitarian picture
The combination of continued strikes, strict limitations on aid entry, and severe winter weather has deepened an already dire humanitarian emergency. Relief groups warn that immediate lifting of barriers to shelter, medical supplies and winter items is essential to prevent a further escalation of human suffering.