UPDATE - Children among 6 Palestinians rescued after storm causes roof collapse in Gaza

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES DECK

By Hosni Nedim and Betul Yilmaz

GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) - Six Palestinians, including two children, were pulled alive on Wednesday from under a roof that collapsed due to heavy storms in the northern Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense said.

The agency said in a statement that the upper roof of a three-floor building collapsed in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, amid a low-pressure weather system that struck the enclave since Monday.

The rescued civilians are in good health, the statement added.

A new weather depression has been affecting the Gaza Strip since Monday, accompanied by heavy rainfall, strong winds, and storms. Weather conditions pose great danger to displaced Palestinians who are living in worn-out tents or severely damaged high-risk buildings, which have been under repeated Israeli strikes since October 2023.

According to the Civil Defense, at least 17 residential buildings have completely collapsed, and over 90 others sustained partial collapses since the current wave of bad weather conditions started in Gaza.

Nearly 90% of shelter centers across the enclave have been completely flooded, and all tents for displaced Palestinians have been damaged and flooded, leaving thousands of families without shelters, clothes, mattresses, and blankets, the organization said.

At least 17 people, including four children, were killed as a result of harsh weather conditions since last week.

The Civil Defense called on the international community to immediately act to meet the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza, launch reconstruction efforts, and provide safe housing.

“The current weather conditions have exposed the fragility of the living conditions imposed on the population, especially the displaced who live in dilapidated tents and primitive shelters,” Ismail Thawabteh, the director of the Gaza Government Media Office, told Anadolu.

He said that these tents and temporary shelter centers “lack the minimum standards of human safety, in light of the continued closure of the crossings and the prevention of the entry of shelter and emergency materials."

Israel has killed nearly 70,700 victims, mostly women and children, and injured more than 171,000 in Gaza since October 2023 and reduced the enclave to rubble.