Gaza Genocideupdated 1h ago2 min read
MapGaza Civil Defence Says Sand Embankment Collapse Kills Five in Deir al-Balah Tents
“The Israeli army continues airstrikes and ground operations in spite of the ceasefire agreement reached with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediation.”
“Israeli authorities have repeatedly blocked their entry into Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of children exposed to another winter of hardship.”
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Five killed, including three children, when sand embankment collapsed onto tents south of Deir al-Balah. Heavy rain contributed to the collapse; several injured and rescued by Civil Defence.
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Sand buries displaced tents
Gaza Civil Defence announced that a sand embankment collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced families in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, killing five people and injuring others after heavy rain and strong winds flooded displacement camps. Three children and one woman were killed when the sand embankment collapsed onto tents in central Gaza, and five injured people were reportedly rescued after the incident on Sunday night at a camp for displaced families south of Deir al-Balah.
Palestinian authorities criticised global “indifference and inaction” after the landslide killed five displaced people sheltering in tents in central Gaza, and the Gaza Government Media Office called the scene “a scene that should shame the conscience of humanity.” About 70,000 tents were flooded when the storm hit Gaza at the weekend, and floodwaters inundated displacement camps and weakened buildings already damaged by Israeli air raids.
Rescuers dig by hand
Mustafa al-Masri told the BBC that he and other rescuers used their bare hands to dig victims and survivors out of the sand and rubble, saying, "When we got here, we, along with the young men from the camp, pulled them out with our own hands." The Civil Defence warning said, "Their tents must not become death traps beneath sand and rainwater," as it described torrential rain flooding tens of thousands of tents across Gaza.
Gaza residents were forced to dig using their bare hands because restrictions imposed by the Israeli military meant specialist search and rescue equipment was in short supply. The Gaza Government Media Office held Israel, the United States and the international community “fully and directly responsible,” citing their “absolute silence regarding the occupation’s crimes” and their “complicity in preventing the entry of shelter supplies”.
Winter shelter and blame
The Civil Defence service warned that the incident should prompt urgent action by international organisations to provide safe shelters for displaced people and move tents away from sandy areas, slopes and locations at risk of collapse. Cogat said more than 91,000 tents, 12 vacuum trucks for waste removal, and fuel and engine oil for pumping facilities have been delivered since the start of the "Gaza Winterization Plan," while it added that Israel would not permit the entry of equipment that could be used for military purposes by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
The Gaza Government Media Office held Israel, the United States and the international community “fully and directly responsible,” and it warned that the “complete failure to act” by the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza raised “serious questions about the very purpose of these bodies.” Save the Children data said more than half a million children are living in “critical or catastrophic” shelter conditions, and Save the Children said Israeli authorities have repeatedly blocked the entry of caravans as a more durable alternative to tents.