70,000 tents flooded in Gaza as civil defense declares state of maximum emergency

Gaza's civil defense authorities declared a state of maximum emergency on Saturday as a rainstorm flooded around 70,000 tents housing displaced Palestinians and overwhelmed rescue services.

The authorities said in a statement that floodwater levels in some residential areas have reached 1.5 meters. Civil defense operations rooms had received 2,166 distress calls since the storm began, while rescue teams could only respond to 218 calls due to the overwhelming number of requests and limited resources.

The authorities called on the international community to pressure Israel to allow the entry of specialized rescue equipment and vehicles, as well as tents, plastic sheeting and mobile homes to provide emergency shelter for displaced families.

At the camp for displaced people in Nuseirat in central Gaza, rainwater has flooded some of the tents, while others have even been uprooted by strong winds, turning the place into a muddy quagmire.

Tents in the refugee camp are dilapidated and crammed tightly together on the sandy ground, with many tents severely flooded both inside and out.

Mohammed Shaar, a displaced resident, stood barefoot in the muddy water, holding a plastic bucket to slowly scoop the floodwater out of his tent.

He had been doing this for several hours straight, but as soon as he stopped, the floodwater would slowly rise again.

Inside his tent, the few tattered blankets and mats were already soaked and all his personal belongings were submerged.

"We were suddenly hit by rainfall at 01:00 while we were sleeping. Our tent was flooded and water poured right in. As you can see, starting from 01:00, we've been in such a situation ever since. Up until now, we haven't had anything to eat or drink. Everyone has been frantically pumping water out. I have a 28-year-old disabled daughter. Since 01:00, she's been forced to sit in the water the whole time," he said.

Shaar's son, Mustafa Shaar and his family were also awakened by the rainfall in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep all night.

His children could only huddle together on their soggy blankets while rats would scurry about from time to time.

"How long are we supposed to live like this? We're practically living in water. This is the first rainfall before winter sets in this year. It only lasted about an hour or two, and yet we're already flooded like this. If a low-pressure system were to last an entire week, where would we go? The tent and everything inside -- the mattresses, the clothes -- are all flooded. The clothes I'm wearing right now are borrowed from my brother as all of our clothes are soaked. Everything in the tent is flooded including the furniture, mattresses, clothes and so on. It's like we're living in a swamp. We're cold and hungry. The tent is in a terrible shape. It offers no protection from the sun, the bitter cold or the rain," said Mustafa Shaar.

In a statement, the Hamas-run media office said dozens of walls had collapsed across the Palestinian enclave, causing injuries of varying severity, some of them serious.

It said that preliminary estimates put direct losses caused by the storm at around 3 million U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan warned that developing cold weather and successive storms could push the situation to even more dangerous levels, particularly as displaced families have exhausted much of their ability to cope and lack even the most basic means of protection.

According to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under three years of continuous Israeli military attacks and blockades, nearly 2 million people in the Gaza Strip are living in about 270,000 tents and makeshift shelters.

It is estimated that 60 percent to 85 percent of these tents are dilapidated or even unusable. In addition, more than 400,000 displaced people are living in areas highly prone to flooding or along the coastline.

70,000 tents flooded in Gaza as civil defense declares state of maximum emergency

70,000 tents flooded in Gaza as civil defense declares state of maximum emergency

Power shortages continue to plague residents in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, where even the most ordinary electric light has become an unaffordable cost.

After more than a decade of war, many power plants, substations, as well as transmission and distribution facilities in Syria have been damaged, while aging equipment and insufficient fuel supplies have continued to hamper the recovery of the electricity system.

Since the beginning of 2026, power supply across Syria has improved somewhat, but recovery has been uneven across regions.

In Hasakah, the public grid has long failed to supply electricity normally, so many residents chose to rely on private generators. But with the rising of diesel prices, the cost of private electricity generation has also climbed.

"We used to rely on a generator, and it cost us only 3 U.S. dollars a month. It was still within our means. Now it's gone up to 45 U.S. dollars, and we simply can't afford it. As for the electricity supplied by the government, we haven't had any for three whole years. The power company recently repaired part of the grid, but the transformer here was stolen, so we're still completely without power," said local resident Sumaya.

Data released by Syria's energy sector in September showed that nationwide power generation had risen from about 915 megawatts to around 3,500 megawatts, but Hasakah Province currently receives only about 50 megawatts, far below the demand of roughly 500 megawatts.

Some better-off families in Hasakah have installed solar power systems, which cost about 800 U.S. dollars to 1,000 U.S. dollars per unit. But such a price remains out of reach for Sumaya's family, as nearly all of their meager savings have been used for her husband's medical treatment.

"My sister and I both dropped out of school. Now we work from 06:00 to 18:00 every day. When we get home, there's no electricity, so we have only this small flashlight for light. This has been our life since the power went out completely. The darkness of the long nights has become part of our lives. I have two wishes: first, my father recovers after his surgery. And second, our home can have electricity, so that every room can at least be lit for a while at night," Aya, a member of Sumaya's family.

Power shortages continue to plague Syria's Hasakah Province