Amnesty visited three sites where storm-damaged buildings collapsed in Bir al-Naaja, Jabalia refugee camp, and Al-Rimal, Gaza City

‘I still cannot digest the thought that we survived the bombardment only for my children to be crushed as a result of the storm’ - Mohammed Nassar

‘Israel must immediately lift its cruel blockade on Gaza and ensure unfettered access for essential goods, repair materials and humanitarian supplies’ - Erika Guevara Rosas

The devastation caused by torrential rain in the occupied Gaza Strip, which led to the flooding of thousands of tents and makeshift shelters and the collapse of buildings, was fuelled by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on the entry of critical supplies needed to repair vital infrastructure, Amnesty International said today.

Over two months after the ceasefire, and despite multiple binding orders from the International Court of Justice, its October 2025 advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations as an occupying power to ensure access to essential supplies and facilitate the work of UNRWA and other UN agencies, and a recent UN General Assembly resolution reaffirming that opinion and calling on Israel to comply with its legal obligations regarding humanitarian assistance in Gaza, Israel has allowed only extremely limited supplies to reach a population that lacks almost everything and is living in extreme deprivation amid widespread destruction.

This provides further indication that Israeli authorities are continuing to deliberately inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction - an act prohibited under the Genocide Convention.

Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said:

“The writing was on the wall; this was no accident; it was an utterly preventable tragedy. The devastating scenes of flooded tents and collapsed buildings in Gaza that have emerged in recent days cannot be blamed solely on ‘bad weather’. They are the foreseeable consequences of Israel’s ongoing genocide and deliberate policy of blocking the entry of shelter and repair materials for the displaced.

“The deadly storms in recent days have inflicted further misery on an already traumatised population and compounded the suffering of Palestinians still reeling from two years of relentless bombardment and forced displacement.

“The knowledge that the extent of this disaster could have been prevented had Israeli authorities allowed the entry of shelter and other materials essential for repairing life-sustaining infrastructure is deeply distressing. Israel must immediately lift its cruel blockade on Gaza and ensure unfettered access for essential goods, repair materials and humanitarian supplies.

“The devastation and deaths caused by the storm provide yet another wakeup call to the international community, paid for with the lives of people who had managed to survive two years of Israel’s ongoing genocide. Governments worldwide must urgently enable Gaza to prepare for the severe winter conditions by pressing Israel to end the blockade on Gaza and lift all restrictions on the entry of life-saving supplies, including shelter materials, nutritious food and medical aid.”

After multiple displacements, the destruction or damage of at least 81% of structures, and the designation of nearly 58% of Gaza’s total area as no-go zones, the overwhelming majority of Palestinians are living in dilapidated tents or damaged shelters amid overflowing sewage and floodwaters, exposed to cold and heavy winds and lacking adequate medical care and essential materials to survive the winter.

Amnesty visited three sites of three damaged buildings that collapsed following the last week’s storms in in Bir al-Naaja, Jabalia refugee camp; Al-Rimal, Gaza City; and Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City and spoke to family members whose loved ones died as a result of collapsing buildings. A total of nine people were crushed to death when the three buildings collapsed on 12 December. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, a tenth victim had also died a day earlier from a collapsed building in al-Shati refugee camp. Amnesty also spoke to seven displaced people living in makeshift camps across Gaza City, bracing themselves for another week of storms and flooding.

Obstruction of critical aid and essential supplies 

According to an emergency snapshot published by a coalition of humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza, nearly US$50 million (approx. £37.5 million GBP) worth of aid and other vital supplies have been blocked from entering Gaza since the ceasefire, and at least 124 requests by NGOs to bring in aid to Gaza have been rejected. 

According to UNRWA, Israeli authorities continue to prevent the agency from bringing in shelter and other essential supplies for displaced people in Gaza. On 9 December, UNRWA reported that it has enough food parcels for 1.1 million people and shelter supplies for up to 1.3 million people outside Gaza waiting to enter, which the Israeli authorities are refusing to allow in, in blatant violation of its obligations under international law. The need for such supplies has drastically increased following the recent floods and the beginning of the rainy season.

Last month, Amnesty highlighted how despite limited improvements since the ceasefire, Israeli authorities are still committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. It documented how Israeli authorities continue to prohibit the entry of materials necessary to repair life-sustaining infrastructure including equipment essential for sewage treatment, the maintenance and repair of water and sanitation infrastructure and warned of fears of a sewage overflow catastrophe in winter.

Israel’s persistent failure to lift restrictions on critical aid supplies and to comply with binding provisional orders by the International Court of Justice on providing unfettered access for humanitarian assistance, or its advisory opinion on the obligation to facilitate the work of the UN throughout the OPT, is further indication that Israel’s genocidal intent in Gaza has not changed.

A foreseeable and preventable disaster

A 46-year-old father of four, described how the tent he and his family lived in Tal al-Hawa, Gaza City was completely flooded last week:  

“Since we learned about the upcoming storm, I tried everything I could to protect my children from its impact, including my 12-year-old child who has a disability; I tried to fortify my tent, with nylon, with additional wooden columns, but it totally flooded… We have no home to return to; some generous people donated a tent for us, but this week there is another storm, and I don’t know what to do. I feel total despair. To see your children shiver in the cold, and not to be able to do anything for them is the worst thing for a father; I feel completely helpless.”

Restrictions on humanitarian aid entry have also driven severe shortages of shelter supplies, allowing a limited number of merchants vetted by Israel who are allowed to bring in goods, to exploit the crisis by inflating prices of essential commodities, including food and tents. 

Amnesty spoke to Mohammed Nassar, whose two children Lina, 18, and Ghazi, 15, died when their severely damaged home in Sheikh Radwan collapsed on 12 December following the storms. He described how the family had fled to southern Gaza twice to escape Israel’s bombardment and to keep their children safe but had returned to Sheikh Radwan after the ceasefire. They were living on the ground floor of a damaged building. He said:

“We thought having a solid roof above means protection, means privacy and dignity, especially as we had been living in tents … I thought I was more fortunate than the rest. To prepare for the storm, I tried putting covers as the windows were broken, doing some repairs.”

He described how after going out in search of food in Al-Jalaa street he returned home and found his wife screaming as their five-storey building had completely collapsed. Their two children, Lina, 18, and Ghazi, 15, were in the same room when the upper floors of the home collapsed on them. 

“Their mother was screaming for help to save them from the rubble, but by the time we got them out their bodies were completely crushed. Lina just recently passed her Tawjihi (high school matriculation) exams; Ghazi was hoping to go back to school again, but their dreams were crushed. I sent my remaining three children to their grandparents’ home as I look for a new place for shelter. I still cannot digest the thought that we survived the bombardment only for my children to be crushed as a result of the storm,” he said. 

Shadi Hannouna’s two brothers, Khalil, 24, and Khader, 18, died when a house collapsed on their tent in al-Rimal in Gaza City on the dawn of 12 December. His family had set up three tents on a plot of land where their destroyed house once stood; one for himself, his wife and children, one for his two brothers and one for his parents. He said:

“Because we knew about the upcoming storm, we tried to secure the tents as much as possible but how can you secure a tent? Our main fear was of flooding and drowning, especially for my parents who are old and who cannot bear this cold. At about 5am on Friday, a nearby house, already damaged, collapsed on [my brothers’] tent... the worst thing for us is we don’t know where to go next; there is no future for us; no horizon… the winter is only starting, and we have lost my two brothers like that.”