Hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Khan Younis are facing a new, deadly threat—drowning. As a severe storm approaches, a population already shattered by over 25 months of devastation now braces for a potential humanitarian catastrophe.
The scene in Khan Younis is one of profound ruin. Torn tents line the beaches, squares have turned to mud, and roads are destroyed. This widespread destruction, described as systematic, sets a dark stage for the impending weather. For the over 900,000 people living here, the storm is a direct threat to their lives.
In pictures: Heavy rain is exacerbating the suffering of displaced families currently living in ramshackle tents in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/wTHIfJLncN
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 14, 2025
“The approaching storm is dangerous and threatens to flood thousands of tents along the coast and inundate entire areas within the city,” said Saeb Laqan, spokesperson for the Khan Younis municipality.
The city’s ability to cope has been virtually erased. Laqan reports that 85% of the road, water, and sewage networks are out of service. Sewage treatment plants are on the verge of shutting down due to a critical fuel shortage, with only 16,000 liters—enough for less than three days—currently available.
Heavy rain is worsening the already deteriorated conditions for thousands of displaced families in the Gaza Strip, flooding the makeshift tents they are forced to live in since the start of the Israeli genocide. pic.twitter.com/g2u9avlsyZ
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 14, 2025
While municipal crews work with rudimentary tools to build earthen barriers, they are confronting a scale of destruction that is simply insurmountable.
The Palestinian Meteorological Department has issued warnings of flash floods, high winds, and reduced visibility. For those living in tents exposed to the sea, these conditions could become death traps. Official data reveals a grim precursor: 93% of displaced persons’ tents have already collapsed and are uninhabitable from previous rains.
Heavy rain flooded a displaced Palestinian family’s tent in Gaza in the early morning hours of Friday. pic.twitter.com/g7bRzllSu5
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 14, 2025
This raises a desperate question: How can they withstand another storm? According to UN estimates, the war has destroyed more than 282,000 homes. Tens of thousands of families now live in tents without flooring as winter approaches, their children without dry clothes and the sick lacking medicine.
Heavy rain is compounding the already devastating conditions for thousands of displaced families living in destroyed homes and improvised tents in the Gaza Strip, many of which have now been flooded.
Notably, no tents or shelter materials have been allowed into Gaza, as Israeli… pic.twitter.com/cfb6rwQxo0
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 14, 2025
With 1,900 of the city’s 2,200 storm drains destroyed, the needs are colossal. The municipality states that the city urgently requires mobile pumps, new drainage networks, debris-removal trucks, and a steady supply of fuel.For the residents, there are no alternatives. Their only choice is to wait inside dilapidated tents, surrounded by water on all sides, many having lost everything and plunged into poverty.
Laqan is calling on the international community for urgent action to save two million displaced people along the coast. He describes a city on the brink, warning that a looming catastrophe could become a reality with just one more night of rain.
Source: Agencies (edited and translated by Al-Manar English Website)
