Deir al-Balah:Gaza A coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations has issued an urgent call for the assessment and evacuation of displacement sites across the Gaza Strip. This appeal follows a tragic incident where five Palestinians, including three children, lost their lives after a sandy embankment collapsed onto tents in Deir al-Balah, amid heavy rainfall.
According to Palestine Info Center, the collapse occurred on Sunday evening at the Ard al-Ribat displacement camp near the al-Baraka water reservoir. The incident resulted in several injuries, with rescue teams actively searching for missing persons. The coalition highlighted the increasingly hazardous conditions faced by displaced Palestinians, noting that many families are living in areas prone to sandbank collapses and flooding, without basic safety measures.
In a statement, the coalition emphasized the urgent need for safe and adequate housing solutions, as current tents do not provide sufficient protection against environmental threats. It called for UN agencies, humanitarian organizations, and relevant authorities to take immediate action by providing safe shelters, relocating families from vulnerable areas, and implementing preventive safety measures.
The tragedy has underscored the severe shortage of shelter materials in Gaza, with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing reporting a need for approximately 270,000 tents. The Ministry of Social Development has attributed the crisis to Israeli restrictions on displacement areas and the obstruction of essential construction materials. The coalition reiterated the necessity of treating the protection of displaced families as a humanitarian priority, especially with the onset of winter and increased risks of flooding.