Severe Weather in Gaza Causes Flooding and Casualties
Conditions in the Gaza Strip have worsened significantly following the arrival of a strong low-pressure system, resulting in 12 fatalities, including children, and extensive damage to refugee camps and precarious housing unable to withstand heavy rainfall and strong winds.
At least 13 homes have collapsed across various areas of Gaza, with the latest incidents reported in the Al-Karama neighborhood and Sheikh Radwan district.
The civil defense teams continue to respond to hundreds of emergency calls, which show no signs of abating.
The most severe impact has been felt in the refugee camps, where over 27,000 tents have been flooded, swept away by rising waters, or destroyed by winds, turning large areas into muddy and cold puddles.
In Beit Lahia, a house housing refugees collapsed in the Bir Al-Najjah area, resulting in five deaths and additional injuries, according to the news agency Wafa.
Additionally, two individuals died when a large wall fell onto tents in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of West Gaza on Friday night.
Extreme cold has also claimed the lives of children; a girl died in Gaza City, and an infant in the Al-Shati refugee camp, while another individual was killed by a collapsing wall in the same camp.
Furthermore, two children were injured in the Abu Jabal refugee camp in the Al-Imadi region when a tent fell on them.
In Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, another infant died in a tent that offered no protection from the cold.
The low-pressure system has caused entire refugee camps in the Al-Mawasi region to flood and has inflicted significant damage in Al-Bassa and Al-Baraka areas of Deir al-Balah, the central market in Al-Nuseirat, as well as in Al-Yarmouk and the port in Gaza City.
The UNRWA has issued warnings about a worsening humanitarian crisis, emphasizing that the heavy rains and damp conditions in the tents are exacerbating the already deteriorating health situation in the overcrowded area. They cautioned about an increased risk of disease spread due to extreme cold, poor sanitation, and lack of hygiene.
The agency has called for urgent facilitation of humanitarian access before the situation escalates further.
