'Everything is soaked': Winter rains in Gaza bring new misery for Palestinians

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Children and families in Gaza scooped muddy water from their tents on Tuesday, trying to protect the few belongings that remain after two years of war.

Winter's heavy rains have left displaced Palestinians splashing in water that reaches their ankles, and blaming both Israel and Hamas for the misery that remains despite a ceasefire.

“All tents were destroyed,” said Assmaa Fayad in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, whose shelter was damaged in Tuesday’s latest downpour. “Where is Hamas? Where are the people to see this rain and how our children are drowning?"

A Hamas spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, lashed out in a message on Telegram: “All the world’s efforts to alleviate the disaster have failed because of the Israeli siege.”

Aid organizations worry that the rainy winter months will make the stark situation worse, with ongoing shortages of humanitarian supplies. They are scrambling to mitigate the flooding and restore infrastructure devastated by the fighting.

Nearly all of Gaza’s over 2 million people were forced from their homes during the war. Most have been living in tents or shelters, some of them built over destroyed homes, with no proper sewage facilities. For toilets, they depend on cesspits dug near tents that overflow in heavy rainfall.

Reham al-Hilu was among those assessing the damage in Deir al-Balah, one of the areas hardest hit by the rains. Her wood and metal shelter collapsed overnight, and she said her head was injured.

“Rainwater flooded the mattresses," she said. "As you can see, everything is soaked — the clothes, everything — and my children are all soaked.”

The United Nations humanitarian office last week said the downpours have damaged at least 13,000 tents like al-Hilu's, and “destroyed what little shelter and belongings thousands of Palestinians in Gaza had left.”

The office said aid organizations had begun preparing for winter in October, when the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, transporting materials like winterized tents into Gaza. Aid groups were able to distribute over 3,600 tents, 129,000 tarpaulins and 87,000 blankets earlier this month, the U.N. office said.

But the office said efforts have been hampered by the slow entry of aid. It said deliveries into the territory continue to be "severely constrained by Israeli authorities’ restrictions on the entry of shelter supplies.”

“Lifesaving humanitarian aid must enter Gaza without obstruction and at scale,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said on Tuesday.

The Israeli defense body responsible for the entry of aid, COGAT, said it worked on “a dedicated response to the winter.”

“The effort is ongoing - additional winter-related requests by international organizations have already been approved, and entry will take place in the coming days,” the agency wrote Tuesday on X.

Roadways in Deir al-Balah turned into shallow rivers of murky water. One man waded across carrying a young daughter in each arm.

Some families knelt on the ground, trying to soak up the water with pieces of cloth.

While daily fighting has stopped in Gaza, Israel continues to strike parts of the territory in response to what it says are violations by Hamas. Both sides have accused each other of violating ceasefire conditions.

And many displaced Palestinians remain crowded into the rough half of Gaza's territory that Israeli forces don’t control.

Janetsky reported from Jerusalem.

Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Saja Fayyad, 7, tries to clear water from her family's flooded tent at a temporary camp for displaced Palestinians after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Displaced Palestinians walk through mud at a temporary tent camp following heavy rainfall in Gaza City on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Displaced Palestinians clear water from their flooded tent at a temporary camp after heavy rainfall in Gaza City Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians walk through a flooded street next to a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Saja Fayyad, 7, tries to clear water from her family's flooded tent at a temporary camp for displaced Palestinians after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians walk through a flooded temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Impact player substitute Sameer Rizvi struck a half-century as Delhi Capitals overcame a top-order order collapse and beat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets in its opening game of the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.

Rizvi anchored Delhi to 145-4 in 17.1 overs with an unbeaten 70 off 47 balls after coming in for Thangarasu Natarajan in the fourth over.

Lucknow had earlier collapsed to 141 all in 18.4 overs after Delhi skipper Axar Patel won the toss on a wicket where fast bowlers found plenty of swing with the new ball.

Delhi ran into early trouble in the chase when it collapsed to 26-4 in the fifth over before Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs (39 not out) of South Africa featured in a match-winning 119-run stand.

“Playing at home, you know the conditions and that helped as my state league takes place here,” Rizvi said. “Stubbs said ‘respect the conditions’ (and) once we were set, we knew we could play our natural game.”

Lokesh Rahul got dismissed on Mohammad Shami’s first ball when he holed out at deep point while going for an extravagant inside shot over the cover, and pace bowler Mohsin Khan found the outside edge of Nitish Rana’s bat.

Fast bowler Prince Yadav then picked up the wickets of Sri Lankan Pathum Nissanka, who skied a mistimed pull to diving wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, and clean bowled Patel of the next ball before Rizvi and Stubbs revived the chase.

Rizvi was the aggressor of the two, hitting four sixes and five boundaries while Stubbs’ 32-ball knock featured three fours and a six.

Earlier, Lucknow struggled from the onset against the pace of Mukesh Kumar (0-17) in the power play while Lungi Ngidi (3-27) and Natarajan (3-29) intelligently varied their pace.

Pant promoted himself as an opener but was run-out in the third over when Kumar couldn’t hold onto a sharp return catch of Mitchell Marsh, but the ball deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Pant out of crease.

“Best way to recover from my dismissal is to ignore it as you can’t control it,” Pant said. "The way we batted, we couldn’t get a partnership for long ... there was enough help with the new ball, but you can’t put pressure on the opposition with 140."

Marsh made 35 off 28 before he holed out to mid-off against Kuldeep Yadav’s (2-31) googly in the 10th over. Ngidi, bowling round the wicket, baffled experienced Nicholas Pooran with a dipping slower ball as the West Indian left-hander tried to flick but missed the line completely and was clean bowled for run-a-ball 8.

Abdul Samad charged briefly and top-scored with 36 off 25 balls before falling to Natarajan in the 18th over as Ngidi polished off the tail quickly with two more slower balls to tailenders Anrich Nortje and Khan.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Delhi Capitals' Lungi Ngidi, right, celebrates with teammates the dismissal of Lucknow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Lungi Ngidi, right, listens to captain Axar Patel before bowling his next delivery during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Sameer Rizvi, right, and batting partner Tristan Stubbs encourage each other during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delhi Capitals' Sameer Rizvi bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals in Lucknow, India, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)