Photos: Heavy rains leave tens of thousands without shelter in Gaza

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Heavy rain has flooded tens of thousands of displaced people’s tents in war-devastated Gaza, Palestinian authorities said, leaving many without shelter.

Since early Saturday, displaced families have been seen fleeing camps in parts of Gaza City and other northern areas of the territory, as well as parts of central Gaza, after they were inundated by rainwater.

Gaza authorities said about “70,000 tents sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people were flooded on the first day” of rains.

The statement also noted the “collapse of dozens of cracked walls and roofs, which caused injuries”, some of them critical, in various areas of the war-devastated territory.

Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the news agency AFP on Saturday his teams had received more than 1,500 calls during the night from residents requesting urgent assistance after their tents were flooded, explaining that the agency “is operating without any equipment or capabilities”.

“We have issued an urgent distress call to the international community and humanitarian organisations to intervene immediately to save hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the flooding of their tents.”

“We cannot face the consequences of this storm on our own,” Bassal added.