#Gaza

Heavy rains flooded tens of thousands of tents across Gaza on Saturday, the BBC reported. Displaced families used pots and pans to bail water out of their shelters. Some said they had been left with nowhere to sleep. Gaza's Media Office said about 70,000 tents flooded within 12 hours of the storm's onset, The Eastleigh Voice reported. The office put preliminary damage at $3 million. It said dozens of walls had collapsed, injuring several people, some of them critically. It also warned that buildings damaged by Israeli bombardment were at risk of collapse. Jonathan Veitch, the Unicef representative for Palestine, spoke to the BBC from Deir al-Balah. He called the situation "horrific" and said people were stopping aid workers in the street to beg for help. Israeli restrictions on heavy machinery and supplies such as engine oil were making things worse, he said. UN budget cuts had also left fewer tarpaulins, plastic sheeting and tents in the territory. Veitch warned that people died of hypothermia last winter. The same could happen again without urgent action, he said. Israel has said it restricts items that could be used for military…