At least five people, including three children, were killed after a steep sand cliff collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Sunday evening, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Five other people were injured in the incident.
The collapse occurred at the Ard El-Rebat displacement camp in Deir Al-Balah, where rescue teams searched through the sand for people trapped beneath the debris.
According to WAFA, rescuers initially recovered the body of a woman before finding four more bodies, including those of three children. Five injured people were also pulled from the site, while search operations continued for others who remained missing.
The incident came as heavy rain and strong winds swept across Gaza, flooding tents and damaging temporary shelters used by displaced families.
Storms that began late Friday have reportedly flooded around 70,000 tents and brought down dozens of walls across the territory, Palestinian media reported.
Gaza's Civil Defense said it had received at least 1,500 emergency calls amid the severe weather. It also warned that more than 2,000 buildings were at risk of collapse.
The agency said at least 300,000 tents were needed to provide adequate shelter for displaced Palestinians affected by the adverse weather conditions.
The extreme weather has further worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where large numbers of people have been displaced by the war and are living in temporary shelters. (with inputs from media organisations)