Gaza storm floods thousands of tents as West Bank settler attacks mount
Deadly flooding deepened Gaza’s shelter crisis as West Bank communities faced home takeovers and attacks, while Israeli parties negotiated a new government.
By Larissa Bell ·
The season’s first major storm flooded about 70,000 tents across Gaza in 12 hours over the weekend, killing at least five people and causing roughly $3 million in damage, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. The flooding added to the hardships facing displaced Palestinians as restrictions on shelter supplies and aid continued.
By Monday, Gaza’s Civil Defence had received more than 2,100 distress calls and warned that over 2,000 buildings could collapse. Nearly 400,000 displaced people are sheltering in areas considered highly vulnerable. On November 8, a sand embankment collapsed onto tents southwest of Deir el-Balah. Five bodies were recovered, including those of Tahrir Nabhan, her daughter Maryam and Habiba al-Zein.
About 85 percent of Gaza’s homes have been damaged or destroyed during Israel’s three-year war. Israel is blocking the entry of 60,000 mobile homes and 200,000 tents, while allowing 20,000 tents into the territory. Gaza’s Crossings and Borders Authority reported that no aid trucks or commercial goods entered on November 6 or 7, followed by five trucks carrying cooking gas on November 8.
The UN humanitarian office, OCHA, said Israel informed the UN on November 1 that shipments from Egypt would be suspended. Aid organisations warned that the daily number of cooked meals could consequently drop from around 600,000 to 330,000. Hamas urged mediators and the Board of Peace to avoid making reconstruction dependent on political or security conditions.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported another 20 Palestinian deaths over the past week, bringing the toll since the October 2025 ceasefire to 1,613 as of November 9. Those killed included 16-year-old Rimas al-Madhoun in a November 3 strike on a Gaza City tent. On November 5, Noura Sheikh al-Eid was killed by tank fire in al-Mawasi, while 12-year-old Adnan al-Qirnawi was fatally shot east of Bureij.
Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government after 67 lawmakers recommended him, compared with 46 backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot proposed a national emergency government based on four principles, including recognising Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and Hamas as a terrorist organisation to be destroyed. Netanyahu called for a unity government involving Eisenkot, Likud and his Haredi and far-right allies.
Parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel could be decisive in the negotiations. The Joint List said removing Netanyahu’s government was its priority, but ruled out joining an administration that breaches international law. It also sought action on education, welfare and crime in exchange for supporting Eisenkot from outside government. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman reiterated his opposition to a government dependent on either Palestinian-led party.
In the West Bank, around 30 settlers backed by Nachala took over eight Palestinian homes near Jericho on November 4. Peace Now cited reports that settlers shot a Palestinian man in the leg, while the UN said a military closure prevented humanitarian access. Settlers maintained that they had purchased the homes through Nachala. Jericho Governor Hussein Hamayel described the sale as a forgery.
OCHA recorded 377 attacks linked to the olive harvest since September 1, exceeding every previous season. It also documented 457 West Bank attacks involving casualties or property damage in October, the highest monthly total since monitoring began in 2006. Demolitions continued, with forces destroying 21 structures belonging to three families in the northern Jordan Valley on November 4 and five homes in Biddu the following day.
