Five killed in Gaza after sand embankment collapses onto tents, first responders say

Three children and two women were killed when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in central Gaza following heavy rain, first responders say.Five injured people were also reportedly rescued after the incident on Sunday night at a camp for displaced families south of the city of Deir al-Balah.Video footage showed men using mobile phone torches to search for survivors beneath boulders, sand and collapsed tents.Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence service said the "humanitarian tragedy" should prompt urgent action by international organisations to provide safe shelters for displaced people and move tents away from sandy areas, slopes and locations at risk of collapse.Torrential rain on Saturday reportedly flooded tens of thousands of tents across Gaza, leaving many Palestinians without a dry place to sleep.The Civil Defence said water levels reached up to 1.5m (4.9ft) in some places and that its first responders were able to respond to only 10% of the 2,100 distress calls they received."Protecting the lives of displaced people is an urgent humanitarian responsibility. Their tents must not become death traps beneath sand and rainwater," it warned.UN agencies have called on Israeli authorities to allow in the specialist equipment and materials required to improve living conditions for displaced families.Cogat, the Israeli military body tasked with co-ordinating deliveries, said on Sunday that more than 91,000 tents, 12 vacuum trucks for waste removal, and fuel and engine oil for pumping facilities have been delivered since the start of the "Gaza Winterization Plan".But it added that Israel would not permit the entry of equipment that could be used for military purposes by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.An estimated 80% of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN.More than 1.9 million people have been displaced, many of them multiple times, and 1.2 million of them are currently living in tents or makeshift shelters, it says.The UN has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite the ceasefire agreed in October 2025, as Israeli air strikes and other attacks continue to hit populated areas, causing casualties and property damage and driving further displacement.The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.Since then, more than 74,640 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.