Winter storms kill five in Gaza amid desperate conditions in makeshift camps | Gaza
High winter winds have collapsed walls and collapsed onto flimsy tents for Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza, killing at least four people as dangerous living conditions continue after more than two years of Israeli bombardment and aid shortages.
The ceasefire has been in effect since October, but aid groups say Palestinians generally lack the shelter necessary to withstand frequent winter storms.
Officials at the Shifa hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza City, where the bodies were received, said in a statement on Tuesday that there were two women, a girl and a boy, among the dead.
A one-year-old child died of hypothermia overnight, Gaza’s health ministry said on Tuesday.
Shifa hospital said three members of a family – 72-year-old Mohammed Hamouda, his 15-year-old grandson and his daughter-in-law – were killed when an eight-metre (26 ft) high wall collapsed on their tent in the coastal area of Gaza City. At least five people were injured.
Relatives on Tuesday began removing rubble that had buried their loved ones and rebuilding tent shelters for survivors.
“The world has allowed us to witness death in all its forms,” Bassel Hamouda said after the family’s funeral. he said. “It is true that the bombing may have stopped temporarily, but in the Gaza Strip we have witnessed every cause of death imaginable in the world.”
The UN and humanitarian partners are distributing tents, tarps, blankets and clothing, as well as nutritional and hygiene supplies, across Gaza, the UN’s humanitarian coordination office said.
The majority of Palestinians live in makeshift tents after their homes were reduced to rubble during the Israel-Gaza war. Aid groups say not enough shelter materials have entered Gaza during the ceasefire.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, said more than 440 people had been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire came into force and their bodies had been taken to hospitals. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are generally considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency Unicef, said on Tuesday that at least 100 children under the age of 18 – 60 boys and 40 girls – had been killed by military operations including drone strikes, airstrikes, tank shelling and the use of live ammunition since the ceasefire began. He said these figures reflect incidents for which sufficient details have been compiled to warrant recording, but the total death toll is expected to be higher. He said hundreds of children were injured.
Elder told reporters via video from Gaza City at a UN briefing in Geneva that although “the bombings and shootings have slowed down” during the ceasefire, they have not stopped. “So what the world calls calm now would be considered a crisis elsewhere,” he said.
Gaza’s population of more than 2 million struggles to keep out cold weather and storms, while also facing a shortage of humanitarian aid and a lack of more essential temporary housing much needed during the winter months. This is the third winter since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when militants raided southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and smuggling 251 into Gaza.
The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that more than 71,400 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s retaliatory attack.
