Horrendous floods bringing a deluge of filthy sewage strewn water into fragile tents of families trying to exist in the Hell Hole that is the remnants of the once vibrant Gaza.
Added to that, yet more Israeli military strikes took place despite the supposed ceasefire. Six people were killed, and 27 injured, when an Israeli missile struck Gaza’s Nasser Hospital on Wednesday. The strike hit the hospital’s surgical department. A medical worker, patients and their companions were among the dead.
This is a war crime. Since October 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has documented more than 1,000 military attacks on Hospitals and Health care facilities in Gaza – resulting in 1010 deaths and 1725 injuries.
Today, Saturday 14 November, islanders will again meet on the Kirk Green, outside St Magnus Cathedral, Broad Street, Kirkwall, to call for a permanent ceasefire. Not everyone in Orkney agrees with their stand for Peace and Justice and an end to the killing. Some think people in Orkney shouldn’t be caring about those in other lands being obliterated by the military might of an occupying power.
Those that attend the vigils and the many visitors who come to our islands on holiday, and join with them, are determined to show that in somewhere as far from Gaza as Orkney is, that there are those who do care, and who see what is happening as whole families are erased by Israel’s genocidal campaign.
The Vigil meets between 1 and 2pm on the Kirk Green, and anyone is welcome to join with them who share in their hopes for a permanent ceasefire and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.
The Gaza Floods
The Floods through the tented settlements in Gaza were preventable. Months ago, the humanitarian community presented a plan to help Palestinians prepare for the 2026-2027 winter season.
OCHA reports that as the Occupying Power, Israel is obliged to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival. Yet Israeli policies continue to obstruct the entry of critical items as well as access to most of Gaza’s land, including areas away from the shoreline that are less prone to flooding. Incoming supplies face multiple approval requirements, limited crossing capacity and unpredictable or narrow delivery windows that delay their entry.
More than 150,000 tents procured by humanitarian partners and Member States are outside Gaza, ready for dispatch; most are in Al Arish, just 50 kilometres away from Khan Younis. Whilst the tents are delayed at the Israeli control points, children and adults have been killed, critical services suspended, and thousands of families’ shelters flooded or destroyed.
Humanitarian partners were able to provide tents, tarpaulins, blankets and other essential supplies to about 1,800 families, roughly a third of some 5,200 families whose immediate needs had been assessed.
They have also pumped out standing water, dug drainage channels and cleaned affected areas. Across Gaza, families are exposed to standing water contaminated with sewage, while available pumps, sandbags and other equipment fall short of needs
A group of 53 countries and organizations on Thursday urged Israel’s incoming government to let aid into Gaza at scale, as winter sets in.
Images by Mike Robertson of the Orkney Gaza Vigil on 7 November 2026.
Fiona Grahame