WEB DESK: Intense rainfall and biting cold have relentlessly swept through Gaza over the weekend, leading to a tragic rise in the number of Palestinians who have lost their lives due to the harsh winter conditions.
On Sunday, two more people, including a seven-year-old child, tragically passed away when a wall collapsed amid the inclement weather, according to Gaza’s civil defense authorities.
As residents seek refuge from the heavy downpour in bombed-out structures, aid organizations have issued warnings about the dangers of these fragile buildings, which are prone to collapse under the strain of cold and rain.
The Hamas-run Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza reported on Sunday that 20 people have been killed by collapsing buildings while taking shelter from the severe conditions. The GMO added that at least 49 buildings have given way since the beginning of the winter season.
For those living in makeshift tents that are poorly constructed and drenched with water, the strong winds bring additional risks, threatening to tear down their precarious shelters entirely.
In Khan Younis, residents awoke to find pools of water flooding their tents after a night of torrential rain, according to a spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Rafah Governorate. “Even animals and livestock couldn’t live under these conditions. But people are forced to stay here because there is no other option but to return to their destroyed homes,” said Ahmed Radwan from Gaza’s Civil Defense.
Radwan referred to this current wave of bad weather as yet another “catastrophic situation” aggravating an already dire humanitarian crisis in the region.
The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) emphasized the dire shortage of aid entering Gaza and stated that they could “immediately scale up efforts” if humanitarian supplies were allowed to flow into the enclave at adequate levels.
“More rain brings more human misery, despair, and death. The severe winter weather is magnifying over two years of immense suffering. People in Gaza are holding on in waterlogged and unstable shelters,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement posted on X.
This escalating humanitarian emergency unfolds as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for discussions with former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week. This meeting is expected to address advancing the next phase of the Gaza peace plan amidst ongoing political efforts led by Washington.
