Rain and Ruin: Gaza's Displaced Face Winter Without Shelter or Sanitation
Part of composite article War, Oil, and a Planet in Flames: How a System Built on Profit Is Crushing the World’s Most Vulnerable View full article →
For the third consecutive winter, displaced families in Gaza are enduring a new kind of danger: the weather itself. Their makeshift shelters offer little protection against seasonal rains, compounding the humanitarian catastrophe.
More than 80% of the territory's infrastructure lies in ruins. Critical systems for drainage, flood control, and sanitation have been destroyed. This collapse turns rainfall into a major threat, flooding tents and spreading contamination.
"I am as afraid of the rain as I was of the war," said one displaced resident, describing a pervasive fear among the population. Without basic infrastructure, each storm brings illness and misery, deepening the suffering of men, women, and children already living in extreme conditions.