Thunderstorms this week flooded tent camps in Gaza, turning dirt lanes into thick mud and soaking makeshift shelters. Residents used buckets and brooms to try to keep water out as heavy winter rains made everyday tasks like cooking and fetching water much harder. The AP photo gallery documents the deteriorating conditions and highlights growing sanitation and health concerns for displaced families.
Thunderstorms Flood Gaza Tent Camps, Deepening Hardship for Displaced Palestinians
Palestinians cross a flooded street following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
GAZA CITY (AP) — Thunderstorms swept through tent camps sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians this week, turning dirt lanes into thick mud and inundating makeshift tents and shelters.
Residents have improvised with buckets, brooms and plastic sheeting in an effort to keep water from entering their living spaces. In the crowded, improvised neighborhoods, ordinary tasks such as cooking, fetching drinking water and transporting supplies have become noticeably more difficult amid heavy winter rains.
The accompanying photo gallery, curated by AP photo editors, documents the worsening conditions inside the camps and the day-to-day struggle of people trying to protect their families and basic belongings from the downpour.
Rising Concerns
Beyond immediate disruption, the flooding raises concerns about sanitation, contaminated water supplies and increased health risks for families already displaced. Mud-clogged pathways and waterlogged tents can hinder humanitarian aid deliveries and complicate efforts by relief workers to reach vulnerable households.
The images provide a stark visual record of how seasonal storms compound the hardships faced by thousands of Palestinians living in temporary shelters.
Clothes hang at the entrance of a tent next to flooded area in a temporary camp for displaced Palestinians after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Displaced Palestinian children play beside a makeshift tent camp where they take shelter in Zawaida, in the central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A man clears water from his tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians following heavy rain in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Palestinians walk through the rubble amid stormy weather in Gaza City Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Pans, bowls, and other utensils are seen in a flooded area where Lamia Abdel Dayem lives in a temporary tent camp for displaced Palestinians after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Displaced Palestinians walk through muddy pathways as a man and children carry cooking equipment at a camp in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A Palestinian boy walks through an area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Palestinians ride in a cart pulled by a vehicle through a flooded street after stormy weather in Gaza City Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Displaced Palestinian children walk through a tent camp amid stormy weather on the beach in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Hosni Abu Reda clears water from his tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians following heavy rain in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A barber cuts a man's hair inside a makeshift tented stall at a displacement camp in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A man walks through the rubble amid stormy weather in Gaza City Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Carrying a plastic bag with bread, Tahreer Al-Rawagh, 8, looks on as he stands in a flooded area in a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A thunderstorm is seen over a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Zawaida, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
