16 dead after torrential rain, Civil Defense says

At least 16 people have died in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including three children from hypothermia, following heavy rains, the territory’s Civil Defense announced Friday.

These severe weather conditions, linked to Storm Byron, have swept away tents and makeshift shelters since Wednesday, worsening the plight of residents, nearly all of whom have been displaced by more than two years of war. Rescue teams responded after 13 houses collapsed "due to heavy rain and strong winds," according to a Civil Defense statement. The Civil Defense operates under the authority of the Islamist movement Hamas.

Its spokesman, Mahmoud Bassal, said six people died when a house collapsed in Bir al-Naja (north), and five others died when walls collapsed in separate incidents. Two bodies were also found in the rubble of a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, he added. Three children have died from exposure to the cold, according to the same source.

In Gaza City, Al-Shifa hospital confirmed the deaths of Hadil Al-Masri, 9, and Taim Al-Khawaja, a few months old. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis (south) announced the death of Rahaf Abou Jazar, eight months, in the nearby tent camp of Al-Mawassi.

In Nuseirat (center), Palestinians on Friday tried to drain water from around their plastic-sheet tents using bowls, buckets, and shovels, amid the rubble left by the destructive war between Israel and Hamas. Children, some barefoot, stumbled through muddy puddles as the rain continued to fall.

"They slept in wet sheets... We don't have any dry clothes to change into," Oumm Mouhammad Jouda told AFP. "There are six of us sleeping on one mattress, and we cover ourselves with our clothes because we have no blankets," lamented Saif Ayman, 17, whose tent was flooded.

According to Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF spokesman currently in Gaza, nighttime temperatures could drop to around eight or nine degrees Celsius. "The rain is heavy, and these families are living in makeshift tents battered by the wind, barely protected by a plastic sheet," he reported.

A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect in October, has partially eased restrictions on the entry of goods and humanitarian aid, but supplies remain insufficient, according to the United Nations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday that thousands of families were "sheltering in low-lying coastal areas or clogged with debris, without drainage systems or protective barriers." "Winter conditions, combined with inadequate water and sanitation, are expected to lead to a rise in acute respiratory infections," it said. The UNICEF official also cautioned of the risk of disease outbreaks, describing "absolutely appalling hygiene and sanitary conditions."