Gaza city: At least 25 Palestinians, including six children, have died in Gaza since the beginning of December due to severe weather conditions, heavy rainfall, and extreme cold, Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal announced. On Monday, Bassal said the deteriorating humanitarian situation, combined with unstable weather, has led to multiple fatalities, with some victims killed by collapsing buildings, while others fell into wells or rainwater collection pits.
According to Islamic Republic News Agency, the Health Ministry in Gaza had earlier reported that three children had died from cold exposure since early December. However, Bassal noted that the ministry only counts bodies transferred to hospitals, while Civil Defense figures include victims not taken to medical facilities. Moreover, 18 residential buildings previously damaged by Israeli airstrikes completely collapsed during the storms, and more than 110 others suffered dangerous partial collapses, threatening thousands of lives.
Bassal stated that many residents are forced to remain in unstable structures because they have no alternative, as most of Gaza's buildings have been destroyed. Israel continues to block the entry of mobile homes, construction materials, and reconstruction efforts, despite ceasefire commitments. About 90 percent of displacement tents across Gaza were torn from the ground or flooded, leaving thousands of families without shelter and destroying their limited belongings.
Meanwhile, Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces deliberately opened the Wadi Gaza waterway, previously blocked by dams, causing massive floods that submerged tents of displaced families. The sudden torrents, which struck early Monday, caused panic among families and left residents unable to save their possessions in freezing temperatures and a lack of emergency aid.
Although a ceasefire ended the war in October 2025, living conditions in Gaza have not improved. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people remain trapped amid worsening floods, cold, and hunger, prompting renewed warnings of an escalating humanitarian catastrophe.