In Gaza, its people struggle against humanity, the elements, and the vagaries of the weather. Despite the near-silence of artillery fire and the absence of airstrikes and drones—which Israel now sends intermittently to remind Gazans that there is no permanent ceasefire and that it does as it pleases—Hurricane Byron came to drown what little the Palestinians in Gaza possessed. No homes, no roofs to protect them from the floods. For two years or more, the machinery of destruction has been wreaking havoc on everything. Byron exacerbated the hardship and oppression of life for Gazans, destroying their tents. The Israeli army refused entry to tents with stronger poles because wood is considered dual-use (civilian and military). Thousands of tents, loaded with suitable shelters, are waiting at the Kerem Abu Salem crossing in trucks belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), but the army is preventing their entry. As a Guardian report (December 8, 2025) revealed, the US Civil-Military Coordination Center, which is supposed to monitor the flow of humanitarian aid, security, and all matters related to the ceasefire, is subject to Israeli surveillance. This prompted the center’s US official to demand that Israeli officials immediately cease this practice.
