5 Palestinians injured in storm-related collapses as heavy rains batter Gaza displacement tents

Storm floods 70,000 displacement tents in 12 hours, with injuries and $3M in estimated losses, Gaza Media Office says Five Palestinians were injured in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after heavy rain and strong winds caused two walls to collapse and a sheet of corrugated metal to fall. Civil Defense crews responded to four separate collapses involving homes damaged by previous Israeli strikes. Medical sources told Anadolu that five Palestinians, including two women, were injured in separate incidents involving the collapse of two walls and the fall of a sheet of corrugated metal in northern and central Gaza.

Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said crews responded to four storm-related collapses involving homes weakened by previous Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza. Crews evacuated several residents from a three-story house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after part of it collapsed in the wind and rain, Basal told Anadolu. Rain also caused the roof of a house to collapse in the nearby Bureij refugee camp, he said.

Crews also responded to the collapse of a four-story building in the courthouse district of central Gaza City. The building had been damaged by an Israeli strike during the war. Videos circulating on social media showed the building collapsing amid heavy rain and strong winds. Basal said another occupied building damaged by previous Israeli strikes partially collapsed. He said no injuries were reported in any of the four incidents. Separately, Gaza’s Civil Defense said it had received 2,166 distress calls since the storm began Friday evening.

Crews were able to respond to only 218 as rainwater flooded dozens of displacement camps and shelters, as well as entire residential areas. Speaking at a press conference, Basal warned that more than 2,000 buildings could collapse on their occupants unless crews were allowed to bring in the equipment needed to deal with them. Gaza Media Office said Saturday that 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians were flooded and dozens of walls collapsed within 12 hours of a storm hitting the Gaza Strip.

The office said the collapses caused injuries and put preliminary direct losses at about $3 million. According to figures released by the office in August, more than 2.15 million displaced people were living in dire conditions, including around 867,000 in worn-out tents and more than 1 million in shelters. On Thursday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said 1.98 million people, or an estimated 94% of Gaza’s population, needed shelter and non-food assistance, citing surveys conducted June 14–28.​​​​​​​ The developments came as a low-pressure system accompanied by a cold air mass and heavy rainfall affected the Gaza Strip, compounding the hardship of thousands of displaced Palestinians sheltering in worn-out tents without heating or adequate protection from rain and cold, amid widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure caused by Israel’s genocidal war.

Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and wounded over 175,000 others, in addition to causing widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.