Four killed in Gaza after sand embankment collapses onto tents, health ministry says

On Sunday night, a sand embankment collapsed onto tents at a camp for displaced families in central Gaza, resulting in the deaths of three children and one woman, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Five injured individuals were rescued during the incident. Videos showed men searching for survivors beneath boulders, sand, and collapsed tents.

The Civil Defence service, operated by Hamas, described the event as a "humanitarian tragedy" and called for international organizations to provide safe shelters for displaced people. Torrential rain on Saturday had flooded tens of thousands of tents, leaving Palestinians without a dry place to sleep. The Civil Defence reported that water levels reached up to 1.5 meters in some areas, and they were able to respond to only 10% of the 2,100 distress calls they received.

Mustafa al-Masri, a rescuer, stated that the collapsed mound was large and wide, and that they had pulled out the victims and survivors using their bare hands. The International Organization for Migration's regional crisis co-ordinator, Karl Baker, warned that many people in Gaza were living in areas prone to collapse during heavy rain and that aid was not sufficient to meet the population's needs.