Propaganda Pushers Belittle Gaza Civilians’ Suffering After Heavy Rainfall

Amid the recent cold wave and heavy rains that swept the Gaza Strip, Israeli propagandists exploited scenes from Gaza to belittle Palestinians’ suffering and mock residents to deflect attention from Israel’s responsibility for a crisis affecting more than 1.5 million people.

Heavy Rainfall Deepens the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

Heavy rains have flooded makeshift displacement camps across Gaza City, leaving displaced Palestinians struggling.

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Friday’s flooding hit hardest in the northern parts of the Strip, where large numbers of Palestinians returned to their devastated homes following the recent ceasefire.

The agency also documented severe flooding in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and urged the international community to intensify efforts to relieve the suffering of residents after Israel destroyed their houses during the devastating war on Gaza.

Officials in Gaza issued urgent appeals on Saturday over the escalating shelter crisis, cautioning that an incoming winter storm could trigger a catastrophic situation amid the collapse of basic infrastructure. 

The Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson said the enclave urgently needs at least 450,000 tents to house displaced residents.

Israeli Trolls Mock Palestinian Suffering During Heavy Rainfall

Misbar’s investigative team tracked a network of Israeli accounts known for pushing hasbara and disinformation throughout Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. 

These propagandists circulated live scenes from Gaza showing residents struggling after sudden heavy rainfall submerged many makeshift shelters housing displaced families. 

The accounts systematically mocked Palestinians, with some users accusing them of staging the scenes, others spreading direct hate speech, others stirring confusion with questions, and many shifting blame to anyone but Israel for the worsening humanitarian crisis.

One of the most prominent propaganda accounts, Mossad Commentary, uploaded an old video of rainfall in Gaza and used it to fault Hamas, the United Nations and Egypt for refusing to relocate civilians ahead of winter. 

The account wrote, “DISASTER COMING FOR GAZA: WINTER IS COMING — AND SO ARE THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF TRAPPING CIVILIANS IN GAZA... Hamas, Egypt, and the UN said no evacuation, no temporary relocation, no third-country refuge.”

The same account also shared another video of a Gaza resident expressing anger after the rainfall. The account blamed Muslims and Arabs for not accepting “refugees” from Gaza prior to the rainfall. 

“This crisis is the direct result of Arab states and the international community refusing to accept a single Gazan refugee, trapping civilians in a war zone for two years and blocking the one solution that could have ended this suffering early. Now winter rains are flooding tents across Gaza, and still, the region’s “brotherly nations” look away. But sure… blame Israel,” the user claimed.

Another pro-Israel user circulated the same footage, along with hate speech that referred to Gaza civilians as “barbarians.” 

He boasted that Gaza’s hardship became entertainment for him, writing, “Gazans suffering from the rain in their tents is what made me truly love winter. I’m absolutely loving the fact that I’m literally within walking distance from those barbarians, but in a cozy, dry, warm, huge house :D Winter in Gaza became my favorite reality show.”

Another troll account, “VividProwess,” which openly identifies as “Zionist,” shared the clip of the flooded tent and asked followers, “Be honest: Do you feel sorry for Gazans?” The prompt triggered a stream of hateful comments.

And as expected, the main propaganda account, Gazawood, known for spreading disinformation and repeatedly debunked by Misbar, shared a video showing two women trying to mop water from the area around their tents. The post triggered a wave of hateful comments that romanticized the suffering of Gaza’s civilians.

Propagandists Spread Hate Speech to Deflect Israel’s Responsibility

The systematic Israeli campaign to mock Gaza’s residents during hardship has intensified since the start of the war, to dodge accountability for the Israeli military’s role in creating the conditions behind the civilians' suffering.

UNRWA, citing Global Shelter Cluster data, reported that more than 282,000 homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, leaving families without shelter. 

Aid organisations working in the Strip also warned in early November that nearly 260,000 Palestinian families, about 1.5 million people, face severe vulnerability as winter approaches.

On October 13, the BBC reported, citing U.N. experts, that Israeli bombardment damaged or destroyed more than 90% of homes in Gaza and collapsed the healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene systems.

The recent rain has only deepened the catastrophe, mixing with the vast quantities of debris created by Israel’s bombardment. The Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities warned on Friday that more than 700,000 tons of accumulated waste now sit in informal dumping sites, as municipalities can no longer provide even the most basic services due to extreme shortages of fuel and equipment.

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