As winter storms batter Gaza, the damage caused by months of Israeli bombardment is revealing itself in new and deadly ways as weakened buildings start to collapse under the weight of rainwater.
The severe weather is putting thousands of Palestinians in imminent danger and forcing families to make a hard choice: remain in houses that could fall on them at any moment, or seek refuge in tents that offer little protection from the cold.
Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described an alarming picture of entire neighbourhoods on the verge of disappearance. “In areas like Sheikh Radwan in north-west Gaza city, up to 90 per cent of the remaining buildings are at risk of collapse,” he told The National.
Over the past several days, civil defence workers have responded to dozens of collapses, evacuating entire families as fierce storms rage. The toll has been grim: 14 Palestinians killed and dozens more injured as weather and war damage combine to bring homes crashing down.
For many who have nowhere else to go, compromised buildings serve as the only available shelter. But they have the potential to become death traps. “We warn that thousands of partially damaged homes pose a direct and serious danger to the lives of people forced to live in them,” Mr Bassal said.
In total, more than 50 houses in Gaza city and the northern regions have collapsed during the recent storms, stretching emergency teams beyond capacity.
Terrifying night
For Iyad Abu Hussein, a father of three from Al Nafaq Street in Gaza city, the storm nearly proved fatal. Rain hammered his already damaged home, which engineers had repeatedly warned him could collapse. But with no safe shelter to turn to, he had little choice but to remain.
“Late at night, I checked the room where my children were sleeping,” he said. “I was shocked to find the ceiling had sunk even lower because of the rain. I felt real terror. I woke them up immediately.”
The family huddled together in the living room until dawn before fleeing to Mr Abu Hussein's brother’s home. When they returned the next day, several parts of the ceiling had collapsed.
“It was clear the house could fall at any moment,” Mr Abu Hussein said. “I refused to risk my family’s lives. If I have to, I will live in a tent. But I will not return to that house again.”
The home, like thousands of others, was partially destroyed by an explosion during Israel's invasion of Gaza. Only fragments are still standing.
Not far away, Mohammed Abu Al Qumsan, 41, tells a similar story of the constant movement to survive. “During the last storm, the house almost fell on us,” he told The National. “We escaped in the final moments.”
With nowhere else to go, he and his family returned to the damaged building after the rain stopped. He attempted to reinforce the ceiling with metal poles, hoping it would buy them time. But the next storm arrived quickly and violently.
“The rain was so heavy that we felt the roof would collapse again,” he said. “We ran out and decided that staying in a tent was safer than living with daily fear inside that house. Every time I leave, I imagine the house falling on my family when I’m not there. I can’t live with that fear.”
After months of displacement, destruction and return, the family has now settled temporarily in a tent in Gaza’s Al Nasr neighbourhood, pitched in the middle of a public street.
“When it rains, the tent floods. Water enters everywhere. But we have no other choice. This is all that remains for us.”
Across the Gaza Strip, the combination of structural devastation and harsh winter weather has created a new humanitarian emergency.
Homes weakened by bombings cannot withstand even moderate rain, families displaced several times are now homeless again, children sleep in soaked blankets, and people rush between collapsing houses and flooded tents, searching for the least dangerous option.
Civil defence teams continue to respond but with scarce equipment, destroyed roads and relentless storms, the challenges are overwhelming.
“This winter is not just cold,” Mr Bassal said. “It is deadly.”
As storms continue and buildings fall, Gaza’s displaced families face a future clouded in uncertainty. Many do not know whether their homes will survive the next rainfall, or if their tents will withstand the next gust of wind.
“We have no solutions. Only fear, and what little shelter we can find," Abu Al Qumsan said.
