Storm Collapses Gaza Homes Damaged by Israel's Airstrikes, Killing Displaced Palestinians

A violent winter storm swept across the Gaza Strip, causing buildings already shattered by Israeli airstrikes to collapse.

“UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said that during the ceasefire roughly one child is being killed each day in Gaza—mainly from air and drone strikes, tank shelling and live ammunition—and that six children have died of hypothermia this winter”

Al Jazeera

The storm killed displaced Palestinians sheltering in tents and weakened structures.

Al Jazeera

Reports vary on the immediate death toll; Middle East Monitor said five Palestinians were killed when cracked or unstable homes collapsed and an additional elderly man died after debris from a minaret fell.

Anadolu Ajansı and AL24 News reported four deaths: an elderly man, a child and two women.

Oman Observer and The Express Tribune gave higher counts, saying at least six people died in the storm, including a one-year-old who froze to death in a tent.

Witnesses and local health sources described walls toppling onto tents and families' flimsy shelters being ripped away by strong winds and flooding, leaving survivors scrambling to salvage belongings and re-secure coverings on the narrow coastal strip where many displaced people live.

The storm multiplied an acute shelter crisis: multiple sources say thousands of tents and displacement sites were flooded, torn apart or rendered uninhabitable.

Gaza government and WAFA figures quoted by AL24 News and Middle East Monitor put as many as 127,000 of 135,000 tents unfit for habitation.

Al Jazeera

CBC and The Express Tribune reported roughly 7,000 tents ruined in 48 hours and warned that many occupants have no alternative shelter.

UN agencies and Palestinian authorities told mainstream outlets that roughly 1.5 million people remain displaced and that about 300,000 new tents are urgently needed.

Aid groups say incoming supply is insufficient and distributions are hampered by damaged infrastructure and access limits.

Multiple sources report Israeli strikes have continued despite a fragile ceasefire, leaving hundreds killed and wounded since Oct. 10, 2025.

“Al Jazeera reported that a low‑pressure system battered the Gaza Strip, causing catastrophic damage”

Al-Jazeera Net

Anadolu Ajansı and Arab News PK cite Gaza health authorities saying 442 Palestinians were killed and over 1,200 wounded during the ceasefire period.

CBC and AL24 News repeated Gaza’s Health Ministry and hospital statements that more than 440 people were killed by Israeli fire since the truce began.

UNICEF and other UN agencies emphasized the toll on children, with UNICEF spokesman James Elder saying roughly 100 children have been killed since the ceasefire.

Many of those child deaths were attributed to airstrikes, drone strikes, tank shelling and live ammunition.

UN and health officials warned that ongoing Israeli operations and clearance procedures are slowing or blocking critical medical and food deliveries into Gaza.

Humanitarian response is constrained, with agencies warning that fuel shortages, destroyed equipment and Israeli clearance procedures are preventing efficient rescue and relief operations.

CBC and The Express Tribune report municipal and civil defence teams lack fuel and working bulldozers and pumps because of war damage.

Al-Jazeera Net

UN News says medicine and food deliveries have been slowed or blocked by Israeli clearance processes and warns that a planned ban on international NGOs would further obstruct life-saving aid.

West Asian outlets and Gaza officials accuse the international community and Israel of failing to allow sufficient aid.

Middle East Monitor reports that Hamas has called the situation genocidal.

Multiple sources describe displaced Palestinians dying in flimsy shelters after Israeli airstrikes left buildings unstable and a storm caused collapses, though outlets emphasize different details.

“Palestinian civil defense said four people were killed in Gaza after buildings previously damaged by Israeli airstrikes collapsed during a powerful storm that began Monday evening”

AL24 News

West Asian and alternative Western outlets highlight the link between prior Israeli bombing, the shelter collapse and political accusations of genocide.

Anadolu Ajansı

Mainstream Western outlets emphasize operational rescue limits, UN verification and the urgent need for tens or hundreds of thousands of replacement tents and heating supplies.

Casualty counts vary — four, five or six dead in the storm — and cumulative figures since the ceasefire (about 440–442 reported by Gaza health authorities) differ between sources, so exact totals are ambiguous and require verification from hospital records and UN tallies.

Despite numeric uncertainty, all cited sources call for immediate, expanded humanitarian access and shelter materials to prevent further deaths.