The Palestinian Ministry of Interior and National Security has disclosed that at least 14 people – including women and children – have died in Gaza since Wednesday due to Storm Byron.

The ministry said in a statement that the deaths are linked to the storm, which has unleashed heavy rainfall and winds on the Palestinian enclave, as well as the collapse of homes.

A number of houses, walls and tents have collapsed in the Gaza Strip since Storm Byron descended upon the enclave destroyed by Israel’s genocidal war, killing at least 14 people in past 24 hours. Three children who died from hypothermia are among the dead.

Gaza’s Civil Defence stated that its teams have continued rescue operations and retrieved 11 bodies and six wounded Palestinians as a result of collapsed walls and houses due to the ongoing storm.

The rescue teams revealed that they dealt with 13 collapsed houses, most of them in northern Gaza, and some of which were inhabited by displaced Palestinians. So far, 52 people have been evacuated from their damaged shelters and transported to a safe area. Nine cars were pulled to safety.

Hamas Spokesperson, Hazem Qassem said that the collapse of buildings and subsequent deaths in Gaza are a “continuation of the war of extermination” and the international community’s failure to provide aid to the enclave.

“The successive collapses of homes bombed during the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip, caused by the storm, and the resulting deaths, reflect the unprecedented scale of the humanitarian disaster left by this criminal Zionist war.”
Hazem Qassem

He added that the deaths due to flooded tents confirmed that the “war of extermination continues, albeit with changed tactics.”

Qassem called for “serious action from all parties to put an end to this genocide” and provide necessary resources for shelters, stressing that the supplies entering the enclave are not meeting the minimum requirement and do not protect against rainwater or the cold.

UN Says Entry Of Essential Materials Needed During Storm In Gaza Blocked By Israel

Meanwhile, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) disclosed that basic tool kits, sandbags and water pumps, as well as construction materials like timber and plywood, remain delayed due to “long-standing access restrictions” by Israeli authorities.

It said in a statement that these “materials are critical for repairing and reinforcing shelters against continued rainfall and mitigating floods in sites.”

The IOM said that since the October ceasefire, it has dispatched more than one million shelter items to partners in Gaza, including waterproof tents, thermal blankets, sleeping mats and tarpaulins, but the supplies cannot withstand flooding.

“Many displacement sites sit on low debris-filled land with inadequate drainage and waste management, leaving families at heightened risk of disease outbreaks and other public health hazards as the flooding spreads,” the agency said.

IOM Director General Amy Pope said immediate and unhindered aid access is “essential” so Palestinian families can get through extremely difficult conditions after two years of genocidal war.

COGAT, the Israeli military entity that is in charge of managing aid going into Gaza, has not directly commented on blocking the tent materials, but it has maintained that enough aid is allowed in and repeatedly blamed the UN and international organisations, as well as Hamas.