Gaza: 16 Dead After Torrential Rains, According to Civil Defense

At least 16 people have died in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including three children from hypothermia, following torrential rains, the Palestinian civil defense announced on Friday.

These severe weather conditions caused by Storm Byron have been sweeping away tents and makeshift shelters since Wednesday, worsening the plight of residents who have been displaced for over two years due to war.

Rescue teams responded after 13 houses collapsed "due to heavy rains and strong winds," according to a statement from the civil defense, which operates under the authority of the Hamas movement.

Spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal reported that six individuals died when a house collapsed in Bir al-Naja (north), and five others were killed in separate incidents involving wall collapses.

Two bodies were also found in the rubble of a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City (north), he added.

Additionally, three children died from exposure to the cold, according to the same source.

In Gaza City, Al-Shifa Hospital confirmed the deaths of Hadil Al-Masri, nine years old, and Taim Al-Khawaja, a few months old. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis (south) reported the death of Rahaf Abou Jazar, eight months old, in the nearby tent camp of Al-Mawassi.

In Nuseirat (central), Palestinians were trying on Friday to drain water from around their plastic tarp tents using bowls, buckets, and shovels amidst the debris left by the destructive war between Israel and Hamas.

Children, some barefoot, stumbled through muddy puddles as the rain continued to fall.

"They slept in wet sheets (...). We have no dry clothes to change into," Oumm Mouhammad Jouda told AFP.

"Six of us sleep on a single mattress, and we cover ourselves with our clothes due to the lack of blankets," lamented 17-year-old Saif Ayman, whose tent was flooded.

According to Jonathan Crickx, a spokesperson for UNICEF currently in Gaza, nighttime temperatures could drop to around eight or nine degrees Celsius. "The rains are intense, and these families live in makeshift tents battered by the wind, barely protected by a plastic tarp," he reported.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October has partially eased restrictions on the entry of goods and humanitarian aid, but these supplies remain insufficient, according to the UN.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday that thousands of families are "sheltered in low-lying coastal areas or cluttered with debris, without drainage systems or protective barriers."

"Winter conditions, combined with inadequate water and sanitation, are likely to lead to a surge in acute respiratory infections," it cautioned.

The UNICEF official also warned of the risk of disease outbreaks, describing "absolutely dreadful hygiene and sanitation conditions."