STORY: Displaced Palestinian women sheltering in a crammed camp in al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza's Khan Younis described on Wednesday (November 26) harsh living conditions as they struggle with heavy rain.

“Every year, we wait for the winter and pray for God and say: ‘Oh God! Give us the rain’. This year, during these two years of war... with the bad conditions we are living in, we say God, we don’t want rain," said displaced Palestinian Shaimaa Abu Rouk.

Another woman, Sonia Abu Tea'ma, said she was losing hope to go check on her house in eastern Khan Younis behind the so-called yellow line, demarcating the line to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire.

"At least give us a humanitarian day so that we go back to get clothes, if any clothes remained... I swear to God, our conditions are very difficult," Abu Tea'ma added.

Heavy rain caused flooding in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (November 25), swamping the tents of thousands of homeless Palestinians facing the prospect of harsh winter storms without sturdy shelter.

The large majority of Gaza's 2 million people were forced from their homes during Israel's two-year ground and air war in the small, crowded enclave triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack, with many now living in tents and other basic shelters.

A ceasefire has broadly held since mid-October but the war demolished much of heavily built-up Gaza, including basic infrastructure, leaving grim living conditions for most people.

The Palestinian Civil Defence Service said on Tuesday thousands of tents housing displaced families had been inundated by rainwater or damaged by torrential rainstorms over the past week.

The United Nations said on Monday (November 24) that while it was working to bring winter supplies into Gaza, the number of trucks able to enter the enclave was limited by Israeli curbs on aid groups.

Hamas-led Gaza authorities say Israel is not letting in as much aid as was promised under the ceasefire deal. Aid agencies say Israel is preventing many essential items from entering.

Israel says it is complying fully with obligations under the truce deal and does not stop any aid entering Gaza, and that aid agencies have been inefficient in distributing it or failed to prevent theft by Hamas militants. Hamas has denied stealing aid.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: DISPLACED PALESTINIANS IN TENTS IN AL-MAWASI IN KHAN YOUNIS / DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WOMEN TALKING ABOUT THEIR SUFFERING UNDER HARSH LIVING CONDITIONS

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT.

SHOWS: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (NOVEMBER 26, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF TENTS SHELTERING DISPLACED PALESTINIANS AT AL-MAWASI AREA IN KHAN YOUNIS

2. VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, SHAIMAA ABU ROUK, STOKING FIRE TO HEAT POT

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, SHAIMAA ABU ROUK, SAYING:

“We were not ready for the rain when it came, we were seriously humiliated. The water leaked to our tools and we got out our clothes wet. We could not even stoke fire under the rain. As you know, when it rained, we could not cook anything to ourselves on the fire so that we can eat and satisfy our hunger. The tents were ruined with water. There is no alternative to the tent, it is some tarpaulin to shelter ourselves with, under the cold we are living.”

4. VARIOUS OF TENTS / CHILD WALKING AMONG TENTS / CLOTHES HANGING TO DRY

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, SHAIMAA ABU ROUK, SAYING:

“Every year, we wait for the winter and pray for God and say: ‘Oh God! Give us the rain’. This year, during these two years of war, we say: ‘No God’. I hear a lot of people saying: ‘We don’t want rain, we don’t want rain.’ Indeed, with the bad conditions we are living in, we say God, we don’t want rain.”

6. WOMAN WALKING PAST TENTS

7. DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, SONIA ABU TEA'MA, CUTTING PIECES OF PAPER TO STOKE FIRE

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, SONIA ABU TEA'MA, SAYING:

“We were hoping... It's been a month, we are told 'today, tomorrow', on the hopes that we return (to her home in eastern Khan Younis), 'just give us some hope that we will go back', but this hope does not exist. There is no hope that we go back. We were told that we might be given a humanitarian day, at least give us a humanitarian day so that we go back to get clothes, if any clothes remained, or even if any houses remain in our areas - that we can go back to and get back our clothes. I swear to God, our conditions are very difficult.”

9. VARIOUS OF TENTS