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SvennoJ on 13 December 2025
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Nowhere for the water to go’ in Gaza as infrastructure destroyed, machinery blocked

The rains have forced the Anera aid organisation to close a health facility and a kitchen in Gaza. The clinic has reopened after much struggle, but the kitchen has not.

“Our kitchen has not been able to reopen due to flooding in Deir el-Balah, meaning that people who have been suffering from the heavy rain are also unable to get a cooked meal delivered to them,” Anera deputy country director Fidah Mousa told Al Jazeera from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

“The rain has stopped but the water is still there because there is no infrastructure or machinery to drain it.”

She said parents and family members are trying to help their loved ones, but it is futile because there is no place for the water to go. There is also a large volume of untreated waste that is now being moved around by the water, increasing the risk of diseases.

“People are living in it, people are moving in it, people are using blankets and kitchen items that have been polluted by this water,” Mousa said, adding that Anera has observed concerning cases of pneumonia and other illnesses.

She said Israeli authorities have blocked much of the humanitarian aid coming into the enclave, so many people are still unable to get the resources they need, including tents and blankets, during the winter storm.

Gaza storms kill 14 Palestinians, including 3 children

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/13/middleeast/gaza-storms-kill-14-palestinians-intl


Men walk along a muddy alley at a makeshift camp sheltering displaced Palestinians after heavy rains in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City on December 11

Severe weather conditions over the past 72 hours in Gaza have left 14 people dead, including three children, the director general of the Gaza-based Health Ministry Munir Al-Boursh told CNN.


Storm Byron created ‘complex humanitarian catastrophe’ in Gaza: Media Office

Gaza’s Government Media Office has released the following updates from the onset of the storm since yesterday morning:

  • 11 bodies were recovered by civil defence teams, and the search is ongoing for one missing person as a result of the collapse of several buildings previously bombed.
  • At least 13 houses collapsed across Gaza.
  • More than 27,000 tents of displaced people were swept away or fully submerged, with more than 53,000 tents in total suffering damage.
  • More than 250,000 displaced Palestinians were directly affected, of approximately 1.5 million people living in tents and flimsy structures, who were partially affected.
  • Infrastructure and roads are eroded, disrupting transportation and communication, and creating difficulties for ambulances and civil defence vehicles. Sewage systems are destroyed or damaged.
  • Remaining agricultural areas were damaged as well, with lands and seasonal crops affected and dozens of primitive greenhouses that provide a livelihood for thousands of displaced families destroyed.