Crouching near his tent, Ayman Siam builds a motley wall, tiny, undoubtedly illusory, to keep his family dry as the winter rains approach in the Gaza Strip.
Due to war, the Yarmouk stadium has become a reception camp for thousands of displaced people in Gaza City, in the north of the territory.
At the foot of the demolished stands, the lawn has given way to muddy ground on which rows of tents line up, makeshift shelters for thousands of Palestinians who have fled the fighting between the Israeli army and the Islamist movement Hamas.
“I’m trying to protect my tent from rainwater because we’re expecting heavy downpours”explains Mr. Siam, assembling disparate paving stones and concrete blocks with the help of his grandson.
“When it rained three days ago, we were soaked”he continues. “So, we try as much as we can to prevent rainwater from seeping into the tents so that the children, my grandchildren” are sheltered.

A displaced Palestinian tries to repair his tent damaged by rain and wind in Deir el-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip, on November 24, 2024, against the backdrop of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas / Bashar TALEB / AFP
In front of the neighboring tent, a man is digging a trench with a pickaxe to drain the water that the black sky threatens to pour onto the camp.
In the absence of an umbrella, we move with our heads sheltered under basins and containers of all kinds, navigating between puddles.
In Gaza, the rainiest season extends from the end of October to the beginning of April, with a peak of precipitation in January, when it rains on average between 30 and 40 mm over the month.
Not quite a flood, but enough to soak the floors, including inside the tents, which were far from airtight.
Winter « horrible »
Winter is going to be « horrible »warns Louise Wateridge, an emergency manager at the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
“People don’t have anything they need”she explains to AFP. “They have not had the most basic things for 13 months: no food, no water, no shelter. With the rain and the cold on top of all that…”.

A barefoot Palestinian girl shelters under an umbrella in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, on November 24, 2024, against the backdrop of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas / Eyad BABA / AFP
A few days ago, downpours flooded hundreds of tents in Deir al-Balah (center), Khan Younes and Rafah (south). Several others along the sea have disappeared in the waves, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
Aouni Al-Sabea can attest to this. “The water took away everything that was in my tent: the mattresses, the blankets, a jug… We were only able to recover a mattress and blankets for the children”testifies this 40-year-old Palestinian, who fled a camp in Gaza City for a tent in Deir al-Balah.
“Now we are on the streets, and we have nothing left”if you complain-t-il.
By nature fragile, many tents are in deplorable condition, patched together with the means at hand but still vulnerable to the elements.
“Tens of thousands of displaced people, particularly in the central and southern Gaza Strip, are suffering from the flooding of their tents due to the rains”the spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense, Mahmoud Bassal, told AFP.
“We call on the international community to intervene urgently to help the displaced and provide them with tents and aid”he adds.

A Palestinian woman stands near a tent damaged by wind and rain north of Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on November 24, 2024, amid war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas/Bashar TALEB / AFP
As winter approaches, many NGOs have also sounded the alarm.
In the Yarmouk stadium, Oum Ahmed Saliha shows the water that slipped under his carpet during the downpour that fell at the time of morning prayer.
“All this is the rain this morning”she said, after putting some clothes to dry. “And winter hasn’t even really started yet…”