Image: Children in Gaza, November 8 2026, photo by @allhandsandhearts

Recent rains in Gaza have flooded the region, and the situation for the displaced Palestinians living in tents is desperate and horrific. Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan wrote this on Instagram today:

“Winter has arrived in Gaza.

And with the first heavy rains, tens of thousands of tents have already flooded.

Families who have survived bombardment, hunger, displacement and the destruction of their homes are now watching rainwater wash through the little shelter they have left.

In Gaza, a mother spent the night holding her two-month-old daughter as rain flooded their tent. Another family watched their shelter collapse around nine children. Mattresses, blankets, clothes, everything soaked. And nowhere safe to go.

These are not images from some distant natural disaster. These are the lives of Palestinians who have already endured years of destruction and displacement.

This is not an unforeseen disaster.

The warnings were there. The shortages of tents, blankets, mattresses and building materials were documented. The approaching winter was no secret.

And still, families have been left exposed.

And still, some remain silent.

Silent in the face of children sleeping in flooded tents. Silent as families face another winter without homes, without warmth, without the most basic protection.

How much more suffering must be witnessed before silence becomes impossible?

Solidarity cannot be selective. Neither can our humanity.

For many of us, winter means gathering around a table, warm food, a roof over our heads, the comfort of being home.

For Palestinians in Gaza, even those simplest comforts have become almost unimaginable.

The people of Gaza do not need our pity. They need shelter, food, dignity, safety and the right to rebuild their lives.

They need more than promises. They need action.

Winter should be a season, not another sentence imposed on a people who have already endured the unimaginable.

Let Gaza survive winter.”