By Harshit
GAZA CITY, DECEMBER 11 —
A baby girl displaced by the ongoing genocide in Gaza has died overnight in a flooded tent as Storm Byron unleashed days of relentless rain, cold winds, and widespread flooding across an already devastated enclave. Her mother, speaking through tears, described the moment she found her infant daughter lifeless as freezing water seeped into their makeshift shelter.
“It kept raining, and the cold was getting worse. Suddenly, I found my little baby motionless, dead,” she told Al Jazeera.
The child, less than a year old, is the latest casualty of a humanitarian catastrophe that has deepened significantly as winter storms batter overcrowded displacement camps from Gaza City to Khan Younis. Aid agencies warn that tens of thousands of families – many living in flimsy tents without insulation, heating, or dry bedding – face acute threats to their survival.
A Disaster Intensified by Storm Byron
Storm Byron arrived as the enclave struggles under two years of unrelenting Israeli military assault, near-total infrastructure collapse, and severe shortages of food, medicine, clean water, and shelter materials. Heavy rainfall has flooded displacement sites across central and southern Gaza, turning tent camps into deep mud fields.
Entire encampments in Khan Younis, Deir el-Balah, Nuseirat and al-Mawasi were submerged within hours, according to Gaza’s civil defence. Rescue teams report more than 2,500 distress calls from families whose tents were inundated by rising water.
“Displaced citizens with their children and women are now drowning, and the rain is sweeping away their tents despite the many appeals and humanitarian calls we have made to save them,” civil defence teams said.
Children Barefoot in the Mud
Jonathan Crickx of UNICEF Palestine described the situation as “huge in scale” and worsening rapidly. At a displacement camp in Deir el-Balah, he observed children walking barefoot through floodwater, their clothes, blankets, and mattresses completely soaked.
“The water is getting everywhere because those tents are mostly makeshift and are not protecting children,” Crickx said.
UNICEF has distributed only 7,500 tents, far below the hundreds of thousands needed. Many families have been displaced multiple times with no belongings beyond the clothes they wear.
“We fear a rise in waterborne diseases like acute diarrhoea,” he warned, citing poor hygiene conditions and stagnant floodwater.
Continued Israeli Attacks Despite Ceasefire
Even as the storm ravaged Gaza, Israeli forces continued near-daily strikes, despite an October ceasefire agreement.
On Thursday, an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least one woman and wounded several others, emergency workers told Al Jazeera.
Earlier, Israeli shelling targeted the area around the Bani Suheila roundabout east of Khan Younis, striking near a school where displaced families had taken refuge.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that since the ceasefire began, 383 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 injured. Since October 2023, total deaths have reached 70,373, with over 171,000 injured.
Aid Blocked, Hunger Deepening
Despite U.S. claims of expanded humanitarian access, Gaza officials say only 234 trucks per day have entered on average since the ceasefire — less than half the agreed figure.
They accuse Israel of deliberately blocking essential items including food staples, medical supplies, and spare parts needed to restore critical infrastructure.
“This is systematic economic strangulation aimed at keeping Gaza on the brink of famine,” the Government Media Office said.
OCHA reports that 761 displacement sites — hosting roughly 850,000 people — are at highest risk of flooding, and that thousands of families attempted relocation as the storm approached.
Families Fighting to Keep Tents Standing
Reporting from al-Mawasi, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said families were trying desperately to reinforce tents using sandbags, sacks of flour, and plastic sheeting.
“Conditions are horrific and unimaginable,” he said. “For Palestinians, winter has added yet another layer of suffering.”
Many parents now face a dangerous dilemma: stay in flooded tents or attempt to move through storm-soaked terrain under threat of airstrikes.
A Mother’s Loss
The death of the infant girl has become emblematic of the growing toll on Gaza’s children — more than one million of whom remain displaced, traumatized, and at extreme risk.
Her mother said she tried everything to keep her daughter warm through the night.
“I fed her and wrapped her up the best I could,” she said. “But it wasn’t enough.”