A sand dune collapsed onto tents in Gaza: four people died
The incident caused by heavy rain occurred in the camp for displaced families south of Deir al-Balah.
A Palestinian woman and three children were killed and six others injured when a sandy slope collapsed onto the tents where displaced Palestinians were living, following heavy rain in Gaza. The incident occurred when the sandy embankment gave way and crashed down on the tents.
According to Reuters, the incident occurred on Sunday evening south of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Heavy rain washed away a rocky sandy slope next to a camp for displaced families. Two of the children killed were 8 and 6 years old, and another was 4 years old.
Rescue operations were carried out at the scene. Local residents used sledgehammers and shovels to move sand and rock debris aside and search for those trapped under the rubble.
According to local authorities, at least 70,000 tents in Gaza were flooded in the first hours of the heavy rain that began on Saturday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that more than 26,000 households had reported damage to their shelters or belongings as a result of the weekend rains.
Currently, a large portion of Gaza's population is living in tents or in the ruins of bombed buildings. With the onset of winter rains in the area, flooding and the collapse of shelters are creating additional risks for the population.
Mahmoud Basal, a representative of Gaza's civil defense service, emphasized that tents cannot protect the population from rain and heat. In his view, the only solution to the problem is the reconstruction of the area.
Reuters notes that the ceasefire agreement reached last year with US mediation also envisaged the reconstruction of Gaza. However, due to disagreements over disarming HAMAS and withdrawing Israeli troops from the area, no significant progress has been observed in this regard. Israel, for its part, states that reconstruction work cannot begin until HAMAS is disarmed.
