The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is worsening as the storm intensifies, flooding tens of thousands of tents belonging to displaced people. Shelters have been transformed into pools of water and mud, with casualties and injuries reported due to sand collapses that buried tents sheltering displaced families.
In the latest tragedy, six Palestinians, including a woman and three children, were killed, and others were injured when a sand dune collapsed onto tents in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Search and rescue operations are ongoing at the site. Field reports indicate some serious injuries, highlighting the lack of even the most basic safety and protection measures in the shelters.
Within hours, the storm caused the flooding of approximately 70,000 tents, affecting the living conditions of some 350,000 Palestinians, according to Civil Defense estimates. Several shelters were inundated, and water levels rose in some areas, leaving thousands of families without mattresses, blankets, and other essential belongings, once again facing the cold and homelessness.
These developments reveal the extent of the deficit faced by displaced families in securing safe shelter at the start of the winter season, especially given the damage to infrastructure, the scarcity of equipment, fuel and shelter materials, and the difficulty for civil defense teams and municipalities to respond to the increasing calls for help.
