Humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens amid political deadlock

Torrential rain has exposed the dire humanitarian situation of Gaza's war-battered population amid a political deadlock between Hamas and Israel Image: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo/picture allianceAdvertisementThis autumn's heavy rain and falling temperatures are exacerbating the humanitarian situation for civilians in Gaza. Torrential rainfall over the weekend killed at least six people, including children, according to UNICEF. Local authorities said at least 70,000 tents were flooded and more than 200,000 people affected.

"Over the past two days, we have been trying to stabilize our tent with sand and rubble to keep water from seeping inside," Rawan Al-Omari, a mother of two, told DW on the phone.

She and her children share a tent west of Jabalia in northern Gaza. "The entire area around us has turned into mud, so even leaving the tent has become difficult," the 33-year-old said. "Everything is exhausting."

The rain also soaked the tent and everything 45-year-old Radi Amin and his three children own.

"For three consecutive days, we have been trying to dry our clothes while my children were shivering in the cold," he told DW. "Only on Wednesday, with the sun finally out and warm enough, our belongings started to dry."

Amin said that "the heavy rain served as a stark reminder of our truly dire state."

Aid teams meanwhile have started to clear blocked sewer lines and stormwater basins at 60 locations, benefiting an estimated 30,000 families, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday.

However, OCHA's humanitarian partners also warned that there is not enough space to relocate people living in flooded areas or war-damaged buildings. "Israeli authorities are restricting Palestinian access anywhere behind the so-called 'Yellow Line,' which means that most of Gaza's land remains off limit," OCHA said.

Following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, the ensuing war in Gaza has destroyed most of Gaza's infrastructure and housing. More than 74,600 people were killed in the Gaza Strip, according to figures from Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel controls about two-thirds of the territory, which is marked by a military demarcation line, the so-called Yellow Line.

Hamas continues to exercise governing authority in much of the remaining territory close to the Mediterranean Sea, where most of Gaza's roughly 2 million residents live. Most of them have been displaced several times and live in tents, camps for displaced people or in houses that are deemed unsafe. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the EU, the United States and others.

As part of the US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025, US President Donald Trump established the Board of Peace (BoP) committee to oversee the ceasefire's implementation as well as Gaza's postwar governance and reconstruction. According to a joint assessment by the World Bank, United Nations and European Union published in April 2026,Gaza's recovery and reconstruction will require an estimated $71.4 billion (€64.2 billion) over the next decade.

However, little progress has been made as negotiators have been failing to agree on terms for Hamas to disarm and for Israel to withdraw its troops from the territory. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to carry out airstrikes on Gaza. On Thursday, Israel carried out a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis against alleged Hamas members.

For Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University in the US, the current rainfall exemplifies the deadlock of Trump's peace plan for Gaza.

"The failure of the Board of Peace to advance reconstruction, or even secure reliable relief, is fundamentally due to Israeli objections based on the insistence that Hamas has to completely disarm first," he told DW.

Until the recent elections in Israel, the Board of Peace showed little interest in challenging that view, Brown added: "Now it is willing to go public, though not in very confrontational terms."

On Monday, the Board of Peace issued a statement saying that Israel's steps to improve the humanitarian situation ahead of the coming winter remain insufficient. "We call on the leadership of the current Government of Israel to act immediately to authorize and facilitate the entry of all necessary winterization and humanitarian supplies." 

Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said the same day that among other equipment, 12 sewage vacuum trucks for the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived in Gaza and that 91,000 tents and more than 8,200 trucks carrying tarpaulins, blankets and winter clothing had entered Gaza in recent months.

In its statement, the Board of Peace also called on Hamas to abide by commitments under the ceasefire, including laying down its weapons and transferring governing authority. Hamas promptly rejected the criticism in a statement and accused Israel of obstructing implementation of the peace plan and withholding urgently needed humanitarian supplies.

The United Nations as well as numerous international agencies have accused Israel of systematically preventing the import of prefabricated shelters into Gaza. The UN said around 150,000 tents were outside Gaza and ready to be dispatched, pending the necessary approvals, a claim Israel rejects.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is serving as caretaker prime minister while a new government is being formed following the October 27 elections, denied that Israel was responsible for the worsening conditions and blamed Hamas instead.

He warned that "as long as Hamas remains in power, it will use every dual-use item entering Gaza to entrench its terror regime and expand its military arsenal."

For Gaza's population, this deadlock amid the approaching winter spells ongoing hardship.

"Children and families are facing devastating conditions, with around 1.2 million people, including more than 560,000 children, living in critical or catastrophic shelter conditions," Ahmad Alhendawi, regional director of the aid organization Save the Children, told DW.

The amount of available winter clothing remains critically insufficient in Gaza, he added.

"As available supplies cover less than 1% of needs, hundreds of thousands of children face the winter without adequate clothing, blankets or heating, leaving them exposed to hypothermia and respiratory illnesses," Alhendawi said.

Furthermore, Nestor Owomuhangi, the UN Population Fund's (UNFPA) representative to Palestine, told DW that around 400,000 people in Gaza continue to live in areas at high risk of flooding, including an estimated 10,000 pregnant women.

"For women and girls already enduring displacement and hunger, the rain threatens their health, safety and dignity," he told DW, adding that "with around 180 babies born every day, mothers and newborns urgently need dry, warm shelter."