Speaking to Al Jazeera, Oxfam’s Gaza representative Wassem Mushtaha warned that Israeli occupation forces have designated 65 percent of the enclave as off-limits military zones, trapping hundreds of thousands of displaced families in unequipped, flood-prone areas with nowhere safe to turn.

“Severe flooding has displaced around 100,000 people in Gaza,” Mushtaha stated. “Israel is restricting access to shelter materials and has rendered 65 percent of Gaza off-limits. People have no safe place to go.”

While Oxfam field teams have initiated emergency clearing of rainwater drainage networks and distributed sandbags and basic tools, relief workers emphasize that preventing further winter casualties requires the immediate entry of spare parts, engine oil, water pipes, heavy machinery, and winterized tents.

Humanitarian observers stress that the ongoing genocide has systematically destroyed basic municipal infrastructure while enforcing a total blockade on reconstruction equipment, leaving civilian populations deliberately exposed to severe winter weather and secondary environmental collapse.