Gaza:Three Palestinians sustained injuries after a wall collapsed onto a tent in the Al-Mufti area, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The tent was sheltering displaced individuals in the region, which has been severely affected by recent adverse weather conditions.
According to Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA – English, since Friday evening, the Gaza Strip has been battered by torrential rains and strong winds. These conditions have exacerbated the hardships faced by displaced people, who are living in deteriorating tents. The severe weather has led to rising floodwaters, freezing temperatures, and an escalation in humanitarian needs.
Gaza's Civil Defence has declared a maximum state of emergency as rescue teams are overwhelmed by the situation. These teams have struggled to manage over 2,000 distress calls, although they have the capacity to respond to only a tenth of these calls due to resource limitations and inadequate shelter facilities.
Medical sources have reported that approximately 350,000 displaced Palestinians are currently sleeping in the open because their tents have been flooded by the storm. Thousands of additional tents are reportedly waiting at the crossings, but entry has been blocked by Israeli occupation forces, leaving many vulnerable to the harsh weather conditions.
In a related incident, a landslide on Sunday caused by sand and rocks resulted in the deaths of a woman and four children, with others injured in Deir al-Balah, also in the central Gaza Strip. The landslide similarly impacted tents that were providing temporary shelter to displaced people in the area.