Heavy rain has caused significant flooding in Gaza, with thousands of Palestinians living in tents bearing the brunt of the sudden burst of winter weather.
It is the second major downpour of the season, saturating the enclave and leaving hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to ensure the few belongings they had were not totally destroyed.
Palestinian authorities reported floodwater of between 40 and 50 centimetres in some parts of Gaza.
"The water is very high, this water entered in the beginning drop by drop, and then it came in a gush from the road," Nuha Dina, 41, told the ABC.
Nuha had been living with her family in a tent in the Nakhil camp in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza.
"The water went in, in the mattresses and blankets, and all of it is full of water," she said.
"All the household goods are gone, nothing is left — even the flour, the sacks of flour, the sacks of food, they are all full of water."
Nuha said she was not sure where her family would sleep.
"We need to find a place outside the camp."
Insufficient aid
The majority of Gaza's population of more than 2 million people are living in tents.
In one camp, residents banded together to build sandbags in a desperate attempt to keep stop the inundation.
Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned of a lack of shelter supplies entering Gaza, saying the volume of trucks carrying tents and other equipment entering the strip by Israeli authorities is nowhere near enough to deal with the crisis on the ground.
Hamas has labelled that as one of many Israeli breaches of the fragile ceasefire in the strip, but Israel has insisted it is holding up its end of the deal — instead blaming aid agencies for not distributing supplies quickly enough.
COGAT, the Israeli agency which controls access to Gaza, posted on social media about the situation.
It said more than 250,000 tarpaulins had "entered Gaza lately" without specifying the time period, adding 11,000 tents were allowed in within the past week.
"The effort is ongoing — additional winter-related requests by international organisations have already been approved, and entry will take place in the coming days in accordance with the organisations' coordination."
COGAT cited cooperation with the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC), and said "a catered humanitarian response is facilitated for the winter".
'No place to go'
Jalal Ayyad, who was also living in the camp in Deir Al Balah, said many of the tents being used had deteriorated.
His home was on the other side of the "Yellow Line", which is the boundary between Israeli and Hamas-controlled territory, in land controlled by Israel.
"All of these tents are torn and the water is everywhere inside the tents, and all of our belongings of the tents have been inundated," Jalal said.
"The children and grown-ups are scooping up the water.
"There is no place for me to go other than here and our tents are flooded. And we don't know where to go."
It is a fresh challenge for the tent communities which house the majority of Palestinians, as winter starts to take hold.
During the stifling summer months, the tents provide little respite from daily heat — something exacerbated by things such as a lack of regular water supplies.
Wild weather buffeted Israel, Gaza and the West Bank overnight on Tuesday, with rain records smashed in some communities.
The Israel Meteorological Service said one of its West Bank stations, in a Jewish settlement called Neve Tzuf, had received 124 millimetres of rain in just four hours — the highest amount in 60 years.
Flooding was reported in a number of cities, while hail lashed Jerusalem soon after daybreak.
Major highways had to be temporarily shut down as water inundated roads.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported part of Israel's security wall with the West Bank collapsed in the Hebron Hills due to rain and heavy winds.
Hostage body released despite weather
Despite the inclement weather, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group handed over another Israeli hostage on Tuesday afternoon.
Reports emerged a day earlier that remains had been found, prompting an angry response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
In a statement, it said delaying the return of the body was "another violation" of the ceasefire.
Prior to that handover, the remains of three Israeli hostages were still in Gaza.
The remains were taken to Israel's national forensics centre for identification.
In the more than six weeks since the ceasefire was announced, Palestinian authorities said Israeli strikes had killed more than 300 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more — many of them women and children.
Israel said it had retaliated against Hamas' breaches of the truce. They included Hamas fighters crossing the "Yellow Line" and Hamas opening fire on Israeli troops.
Three IDF soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire came into force.
