A severe storm system Byron killed two children and three men across Gaza, as heavy rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures continue to batter displacement shelters and cause walls, homes and tents, many already damaged by Israeli strikes, to collapse, according to medical sources and civil defence.
Three Palestinians were killed on Friday in separate incidents caused by storm-related structural collapses.
Two brothers, Khader and Khalil Iyhab Hanouna, died when a wall collapsed onto their tent under the weight of intense rainfall in central Gaza, the sources told Anadolu.
In northern Gaza, civil defence teams recovered the body of another Palestinian after a house collapsed in the Beit Lahia area of Jabalia, rescuing two injured children and continuing searches for possible additional victims trapped under the rubble.
Separately, two Palestinian children had died from severe cold in their displacement shelters in different parts of Gaza and were pronounced dead on arrival at al-Shifa Hospital, according to medical sources.
The first victim, nine-year-old Hadeel Hamdan, had been taking shelter with her family in a school converted into a displacement centre, where families face harsh conditions and a lack of heating supplies.
The second child, an infant identified as Taym al-Khawaja, died from extreme cold while living with his family in the remains of their home already damaged by Israeli strikes, in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza.
The two deaths brought the total number of children who have died from cold weather since the storm began on Wednesday to three after an infant girl, Rahaf Abu Jazar, died on Thursday in Khan Younis after her family’s tent flooded with rainwater.
Floodwaters have submerged thousands of worn tents across multiple areas of the enclave, damaging shelters and destroying displaced families’ belongings, further worsening conditions amid plunging temperatures.
The civil defence said it evacuated several displaced families after two partially damaged homes collapsed in Khan Younis, warning against seeking shelter in buildings at risk of further collapse.
Three buildings also collapsed west of Gaza on Thursday as heavy rain and flooding continued to hit the Plalestinian enclave.
About 250,000 families are currently living in displacement camps across Gaza, many facing cold weather and flooding inside fragile tents, according to the civil defence.
Despite the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to impose strict restrictions on the entry of aid trucks, violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.
Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite a ceasefire deal two months ago.
