Gaza Genocideupdated 26m ago3 min read
MapIsraeli Attacks Kill At Least Five Palestinians as Gaza Floods Damage Tent Shelters
“reconstruction ‘can only begin after Hamas fully disarms’.”
“A UN report accused Israel of preventing the entry of essential equipment for infrastructure rehabilitation, after it was further damaged by the weather.”
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Heavy rains flood Gaza tent camps, damaging shelters and causing multiple Palestinian deaths. A sand embankment collapse crushed tents, killing families sheltering inside.
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Floods hit tent camps
Israeli attacks killed at least five Palestinians in Gaza as heavy rains flooded tent shelters, with an Israeli air attack killing 38-year-old Mohammed Salem al-Daash in the al-Sabra neighbourhood south of Gaza City. UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said, “Ultimately, we need the Israeli authorities to cooperate with giving the permissions so that we can bring those tents in,” as the UN made an emergency appeal for waterproof tents to shelter hundreds of thousands exposed to flooding. Gaza’s Government Media Office said at least 70,000 tents were flooded in weekend rains, while UNICEF said heavy rain has directly affected at least 106,000 people in Gaza in recent days.
NBC News said, “It wasn’t an Israeli missile strike or gunfire that killed them,” attributing deaths in the weekend flooding to heavy rains that swept through makeshift shelters across the Gaza Strip. Reuters reported that the Sheikh Radwan stormwater basin in Gaza City was contaminated with sewage and at risk of overflowing after heavy rainfall, warning of flooding and disease risk.
Aid access dispute
The US-backed Board of Peace said Israel’s aid response after Gaza floods “remains insufficient,” even as Israel’s military agency in charge of coordinating aid into Gaza said it had allowed in tens of thousands of tents and trucks with winter supplies. UN humanitarian coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov said, “Israeli authorities must immediately lift all restrictions on entry of the supplies,” adding, “we have run out of time.” Reuters reported that UNICEF said Israel rejected the importation of equipment needed to repair a water basin in Gaza, and UNICEF’s James Elder warned, “Toxic sewage could flow into the streets and tents of Gaza City.”
Haaretz said a UN report accused Israel of preventing the entry of essential equipment for infrastructure rehabilitation, stating “200,000 residents were affected by floods over the weekend.” CNN said the sand embankment collapse crushed tent shelters, with water levels reaching 1.5 metres in some locations over the weekend, and it said at least four people were killed including three children.
Casualties and next steps
In the central Strip, a sand embankment collapse killed at least four people, including three children, after it crushed tent shelters, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence and reporting that followed the overnight collapse. The New York Times described one family burial in Deir al-Balah, saying Ahmad Nabhan, 36, buried his wife Tahrir, 36, his son Salah, 8, his daughter Mariam, 5, and his niece Habiba, 4, after the sand embankment collapsed on their tent. Reuters said nearly 1 million displaced people across Gaza now faced medium or high flood risk, and it quoted World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier warning of communicable disease risks due to flooding, poor sanitation and insufficient health and water services.
The Board of Peace urged Israel to immediately allow all necessary humanitarian supplies into Gaza after rain flooded tens of thousands of tents, while Israel’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Michal Maayan said Israel had put in place a winter plan in coordination with the Board of Peace and international charities. Al Jazeera reported that Hind Khoudary described the attacks as indiscriminate targeting of civilians, saying people carrying out simple attempts to survive lost their lives, including “a man filling up a water tank, [who] was killed in a drone strike.”