Gaza Sandbank Collapse Kills Five in Tents as First Winter Storm Floods 70,000
Four children and a woman died when an embankment buried a tent in Deir el-Balah; aid groups say Israel is blocking the caravans and shelter materials that could have kept families out of the water.
Five displaced Palestinians, including four children, were killed in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday when a sand embankment collapsed onto their tent after the first winter storm of the year swamped the territory's overcrowded camps.
Four children and a woman died and two people remain missing after the sandbank gave way in Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera reported. The storm hit Gaza on Friday, flooding displacement camps and weakening buildings already damaged by Israeli air raids. Palestinian authorities said about 70,000 tents were flooded over a 12-hour stretch. Specialist search and rescue equipment is in short supply because of Israeli military restrictions, and residents dug with their bare hands to reach survivors.
"When the embankment collapsed, those people had no chance to escape or protect themselves," said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah. The victims were living in flimsy tents on exposed ground with no protection from the rain.
Displaced residents described conditions that were already grim before the downpour. "This is the first day of rain, and of course we are already flooded," said Olfat Magdoub. "Two weeks ago, when it rained, I swear to God, I spent four days sleeping on blankets spread on the floor because the rainwater had flooded the bedding." About 950,000 displaced Palestinians live in areas exposed to flooding, according to the United Nations.
Aid groups placed the blame on restrictions on what can enter Gaza. Save the Children said more than half a million children are living in "critical or catastrophic" shelter conditions. Ahmad Alhendawi of the organization said: "This is not simply the result of bad weather. Tents, shelter kits and fuel are waiting at Gaza's borders while children sleep in floodwater, because the Israeli authorities are blocking their entry." The group noted that the ceasefire announced more than a year ago stipulated the entry of caravans as a more durable alternative to tents, but Israeli authorities have repeatedly blocked them.
The Gaza Government Media Office said on Monday the scene "should shame the conscience of humanity," and held Israel, the United States and the international community responsible. It also criticized the absence of the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, bodies set up under the post-war arrangements, saying their failure to act raised "serious questions about the very purpose" of the institutions. Israel has not publicly responded to the shelter allegations in the reports reviewed here.
More than 74,600 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to figures cited by Al Jazeera, and more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire took effect in October 2025. With winter only beginning, the weekend's storm is an early test of whether shelter supplies reach the camps before the next round of rain.
