Five killed in Gaza as storm brings sand embankment down on tents; 70,000 tents flooded

Five people, including three children and two women, were killed in the central Gaza Strip when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents during Sunday's storm and heavy rains, Gaza's rescue service reported.

A sandy embankment collapsed onto tents housing displaced people at a shelter centre south of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, said Mahmud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza's civil defence.

Rescue teams are continuing to search for missing people, he said.

A video circulating on social media showed dozens of men at the scene, some trying to lift a large stone slab while others dug beneath it with shovels.

The agency warned displaced people against setting up tents or remaining near sand masses and elevated soil mounds, particularly during periods of rainfall, as these pose a real threat to their lives, and called on humanitarian organisations to provide the necessary equipment.

About 70,000 tents sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people were flooded on the first day of the rains on Saturday, the Hamas-run government media office said, leaving thousands without shelter.

The collapse of dozens of cracked walls and roofs caused injuries, some critical, in various areas of the tiny territory.

During the weekend, hundreds of displaced families started fleeing camps in parts of Gaza City and other parts of the territory after floods destroyed their shelters.

A fragile ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on 10 October 2025, after two years of war that erupted following the attack carried out by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The war left most of the population displaced and often living in tents or other makeshift shelters as bombs destroyed huge swathes of the territory.

The Israeli army continues airstrikes and ground operations in spite of the ceasefire agreement reached with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediation.