Gaza authorities condemn international inaction after landslide kills five
Four children and a woman died when a rain-soaked sandbank collapsed onto their tent in central Gaza, where flooding has deepened the shelter crisis.
By Olga Menon ·
Palestinian authorities have condemned what they describe as international indifference after a landslide killed five displaced people in the central Gaza Strip. Four children and a woman died on Sunday when a sandbank collapsed onto their tent in Deir el-Balah. Two other people remain missing.
The collapse followed heavy rainfall that reached the besieged territory on Friday with the first winter storm of the year. Flooding spread through displacement camps and further weakened buildings previously damaged by Israeli air raids. Around 70,000 tents were flooded as the storm swept across Gaza over the weekend.
Residents searching for survivors had to dig through the debris with their bare hands. Specialist search and rescue equipment is scarce because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli military, limiting the resources available to those trying to reach people buried beneath the collapsed embankment.
Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the victims had been staying in fragile tents on exposed land without protection from the downpour. He said they had no opportunity to escape or shield themselves when the sandbank gave way, highlighting the conditions facing displaced residents.
In a statement on Monday, the Gaza Government Media Office described the deaths as evidence of the abandonment of Palestinians. It held Israel, the United States and the international community responsible, accusing them of remaining silent and being complicit in blocking shelter supplies, construction materials, caravans, fuel and spare parts needed for municipal and Civil Defence equipment.
The office also criticised the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. It accused both bodies of failing to respond to the disaster or fulfil their responsibilities, and questioned their purpose while Palestinians continued to suffer.
Save the Children says more than half a million children in Gaza are living in shelter conditions classified as critical or catastrophic. The organisation said the ceasefire announced more than a year earlier had provided for caravans to enter Gaza as a sturdier alternative to tents. It accused Israeli authorities of repeatedly preventing their entry, leaving hundreds of thousands of children exposed to another difficult winter.
More than 74,600 people have been killed since Israel began its war on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025.
