Five killed, including three women, in Gaza storm-damaged building collapse

At least five Palestinians, including three women, were killed on Tuesday (January 13) when buildings and walls damaged by Israeli strikes in Gaza collapsed, local health officials said. The death toll among children and the elderly due to the cold is also rising. Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, said two women, a teenager and a man were among the dead. Several others died from cold-related causes.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera reported that a one-year-old child died of hypothermia, after two other children died from the same cause the previous night. Living conditions in Gaza have reached critical levels due to more than two years of war and blockade. Although a ceasefire has been in effect since October 10, humanitarian agencies say there is a lack of adequate shelter to withstand the winter storm.
The UN humanitarian office said that hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters were blown away or severely damaged by the storm yesterday. Al-Shifa Hospital sources said that three members of the same family were killed when an eight-meter-high wall collapsed on a tent in the coastal area of ​​Gaza City. They are 72-year-old Mohammed Hamouda, his 15-year-old granddaughter and his daughter-in-law. At least five others were injured in the incident. Another woman was killed when a wall collapsed in the western part of Gaza City.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said that most people have lost their safe havens as a result of the fighting. It is very risky to take shelter in damaged buildings during the storm. However, the necessary tents and shelter materials are not entering Gaza in sufficient quantities.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that it is distributing tents, tarpaulins, blankets, clothing and emergency supplies. However, humanitarian agencies have complained that despite the ceasefire, the necessary shelter materials are being prevented from entering Gaza.
Meanwhile, the number of patients suffering from cold-related illnesses in various hospitals in Gaza has increased. The Civil Defense said that it has received hundreds of calls for help, especially for children. Strong winds in western Gaza City have completely blown away many tents.
Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, said that about 10,000 families in the coastal area are at new risk. Gaza Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj said people were suffering greatly due to the lack of temporary shelter and medicine.
Meanwhile, UNICEF said that more than 100 children have been killed in Gaza in the past three months since the ceasefire began. The children have been killed by airstrikes, drone strikes, tank shelling and gunfire, said the agency’s spokesman James Elder. Six children have died of hypothermia so far this winter.