2 children, 3 men die in Gaza storm amid extreme cold

• 2 children succumb to freezing temperatures in Gaza City as winter storm batters displacement shelters

• WHO representative in OPT says over past 24 hours, 10 people were reported to have died amid heavy rain, cold conditions, citing Ministry of Health data

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

A powerful winter storm driven by a low-pressure system has killed two children and three other Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, as heavy rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures battered displacement shelters and caused walls, homes and tents, many already damaged by Israeli strikes, to collapse, according to medical sources and Civil Defense.

Three Palestinians were killed on Friday in separate incidents caused by storm-related structural collapses. Two brothers, Khader and Khalil Iyhab Hanouna, died when a wall collapsed onto their tent in central Gaza City under the weight of intense rainfall, local sources told Anadolu.

In northern Gaza, Civil Defense teams recovered the body of another Palestinian after a house collapsed in the Beit Lahia area of Jabalia, rescuing two injured children and continuing searches for possible additional victims trapped under the rubble.

Separately, two Palestinian children died from severe cold in their displacement shelters in different parts of Gaza City and were pronounced dead on arrival at Al-Shifa Hospital, according to medical sources.

The first victim, nine-year-old Hadeel Hamdan, had been sheltering with her family in a school converted into a displacement center, where families face harsh conditions and a lack of heating supplies.

The second child, an infant identified as Taym al-Khawaja, died from extreme cold while living with his family in the remains of their home, already damaged by Israeli strikes, in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City.

The two deaths brought the total number of children who have died from cold exposure since the storm began on Wednesday to three after an infant girl, Rahaf Abu Jazar, died Thursday in Khan Younis after her family’s tent flooded with rainwater.

Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, said on Friday that Storm Byron had struck Gaza with force, worsening already dire living conditions for displaced families.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Peeperkorn said shelter conditions in Gaza remain "shocking," with the cold and rainy winter deepening the suffering of families living in unsafe areas.

He said many displaced people are sheltering in low-lying, debris-filled coastal areas with no drainage or protective barriers, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to disease as temperatures drop and rainfall continues.

Peeperkorn said, according to information received over the past 24 hours, 10 people were reported to have died amid heavy rain and cold conditions. He added that the figures were provided by Gaza's Health Ministry.

Three buildings also collapsed west of Gaza City on Thursday as heavy rain and flooding continued to hit the enclave.

About 250,000 families are currently living in displacement camps across the Gaza Strip, many facing cold weather and flooding inside fragile tents, according to the Civil Defense.

Although a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, living conditions in Gaza have not improved, as Israel continues to impose strict restrictions on the entry of aid trucks, violating the humanitarian protocol of the agreement.

Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023, which have continued despite the truce.