Four die in Gaza camp collapse
A sand embankment fell on tents in central Gaza after heavy rain, killing three children and one woman.
By Harvey Wilson ·
Four people died when a sand embankment collapsed onto a displacement camp in central Gaza on Sunday night. The victims included three children and one woman, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The incident occurred south of Deir al-Balah following days of heavy rain. Five other people were injured and rescued from the debris.
The Civil Defence service described the event as a humanitarian tragedy. They urged international organizations to provide safe shelters and move tents away from sandy slopes and collapse risks. The service noted that water levels reached up to 1.5 meters in some areas during the storm on Saturday. First responders could only answer 10 percent of the 2,100 distress calls they received.
Rescue efforts relied on bare hands and phone torches to search for survivors beneath boulders and sand. Mustafa al-Masri, a rescuer from the camp, said the mound was huge and wide. He and other young men pulled the victims out of the rubble. The father of two of the children arrived at the scene and shouted for his kids. Al-Masri, displaced from Beit Hanoun, said he stayed in central Gaza because he had nowhere to return to.
The health ministry corrected its initial death toll, which had included two women. The deceased are identified as Tahrir Nabhan, Mariam Nabhan, Salah Nabhan, and Habiba al-Zein. The storm that triggered the collapse flooded tens of thousands of tents across the territory. Many residents were left without a dry place to sleep.
Karl Baker, the International Organization for Migration’s regional crisis co-ordinator, said 2.1 million people in Gaza are confined to 30 percent of the territory. He noted that many live in areas that would not be typical in normal times. The UN agency is trying to secure tents and tarpaulins and improve drainage for the winter. Baker described the current aid as the very smallest of Band-Aids. He called for more in-kind donations and funding to help communities help themselves.
UN agencies have asked Israeli authorities to allow specialist equipment and materials into the territory. Cogat, the Israeli military body coordinating deliveries, said more than 91,000 tents have been delivered since the start of the Gaza Winterization Plan. It also reported the delivery of 12 vacuum trucks for waste removal and fuel for pumping facilities. Israel said it would not permit equipment that could be used for military purposes by Hamas and other armed groups.
The UN estimates that 80 percent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war. More than 1.9 million people have been displaced, often multiple times. Currently, 1.2 million people live in tents or makeshift shelters. The UN warned that the humanitarian situation remains dire despite the ceasefire agreed in October 2025. Israeli air strikes and other attacks continue to hit populated areas.
The war began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. That attack killed about 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken. More than 74,640 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN considers these figures reliable.
