Thousands of tents and improvised shelters now line areas freed of debris.
GAZA CITY: According to Gaza’s civil defence organisation, at least 13 people have died in the last 24 hours, including three children who perished from exposure to the cold, as a winter storm blasts the enclave.
Heavy rain from Storm Byron has swamped tents and temporary shelters across the Gaza Strip since late Wednesday, exacerbating the plight of the territory’s population, virtually all of whom were displaced during more than two years of conflict.
According to Gaza’s civil defence organisation, which works as a rescue squad under Hamas administration, three youngsters died as a result of exposure to the cold – two in Gaza City and one in Khan Yunis, south.
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City verified the deaths of Hadeel al-Masri, nine, and Taim al-Khawaja, who was only a few months old.
On Thursday, Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis announced that eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar died of cold in the adjacent tented encampment of Al-Mawasi.
With the majority of Gaza’s buildings destroyed or damaged, thousands of tents and makeshift shelters now line areas cleared of rubble.
A house collapsed in the Bir al-Naja neighbourhood of the northern Gaza Strip, killing six people, according to civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Four other people died as walls fell in several events, he added.
In a statement, the civil defence claimed its teams had responded to calls from “13 houses that collapsed due to heavy rains and strong winds, mostly in Gaza City and the north”.
No dry clothes.
Under cloudy skies in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Palestinians attempted to clear water that had gathered around their plastic sheeting tents using bowls, buckets, and hoes.
As the rain fell, young children walked and skipped over muddy puddles, some barefoot and others in exposed sandals.
“The mattress has been soaked since this morning, and the children slept with wet bedding last night,” Umm Muhammad Joudah told AFP.
“We don’t have any dry clothes to change into.”
Saif Ayman, a 17-year-old on crutches owing to a leg injury, claimed his tent had also been swamped.