THE humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinians is Gaza continued to worsen as the winter’s first strong rainfall sent water cascading through parts of Gaza’s sprawling Muwasi tent camp on Saturday.

This following reports today that Israeli forces had killed three more Palestinians east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and a teenager during a raid on the Old Askar refugee camp east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

In Gaza, residents attempted to dig trenches to keep the water from flooding their tents, as heavy rain that began on Friday forced through tears in tarpaulins and makeshift shelters.

Some people tried to shelter in destroyed buildings, even those at risk of collapse, with gaping holes covered by pieces of plastic.

Two weeks ago, Bassil Naggar bought a new tent on the black market for the equivalent of about $712 (£543), because the summer sun had worn his old tent thin. Still, rainwater was leaking through.

“I spent all of Friday pushing water out of my tent,” Mr Naggar said, adding that his neighbours’ tents and belongings were wrecked.

“Water puddles are inches high, and there is no proper drainage.”

According to the United Nations, Muwasi was sheltering up to 425,000 displaced Palestinians earlier this year, the vast majority in makeshift temporary tents, after Israel’s war with Hamas displaced most of Gaza’s population of over two million people.

The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza has said it is allowing in winter preparation materials including blankets and heavy tarps, but aid organisations warn the efforts are far from sufficient when winter temperatures plummet and the wind whips off the Mediterranean.

The future facing Gazans is unclear as the first stage of the ceasefire agreement is nearing its end.

The United Nations security council is expected to vote on Monday on a United States proposal for a UN mandate for a so-called stabilisation force in Gaza.

This comes despite opposition from Russia, China and some Arab nations.

Meanwhile, the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (Unifil) said yesterday that they had been fired on by an Israeli tank in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s army condemned the attack, calling it a “dangerous escalation,” and the latest in a string of “violations of Lebanese sovereignty,” by the Israelis.

A statement from the Lebanese army said they were working in co-ordination with “friendly countries” to end the continued Israeli violations.

Israel admitted the attack, claiming it did so due to “poor weather conditions” and mistook the UN patrol for “suspects.”