At least 14 killed in Gaza in 24 hours amid freezing weather

Israel breaches ceasefire as Palestinian woman succumbs to gunshot injuries

GAZA: At least 14 people, including children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip by heavy rain and cold conditions caused by Storm Byron during the past 24 hours.

On Friday, at least two children died from freezing temperatures. Infant Taim Al-Khawaja, who was living with his family in the ruins of their home damaged by a previous Israeli bombing in the Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, died from the severe cold. Nine-year-old Hadeel Hamdan was also pronounced dead this morning after succumbing to the cold.

The little girl had been sheltering in a school for the displaced, amid a lack of heating and supplies.

The weather has also impacted buildings in Gaza, whose durability has been severely affected by Israel’s constant destruction and bombardment during years of war.

A building collapse in Beit Lahia killed at least five Palestinians, and at least two other people died after a large wall collapsed onto the tents of those displaced in Gaza City’s Remal neighourhood.

Thousands of Palestinians are at risk of being displaced again, falling ill, and dying as Storm Byron floods displacement camps and shelters.

Medical facilities treating wounded and sick Palestinians are also impacted by Storm Byron’s floods. The Palestinian Medical Relief Society said at least four of its medical points have been flooded by rain, causing damage to equipment.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to violate the ceasefire in Gaza. One woman died of injuries sustained by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia, two days after she was wounded.

Israel has reportedly approved the establishment and regulation of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

This includes two settlements in the northern West Bank that were dismantled during the so-called disengagement in 2005.

Head of the Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission, Minister Muayyad Shaaban, said that the approval of the settlements “marks yet another step in the race to erase Palestinian geography in favour of the colonial settlement project”.

Shaaban called the decision “a dangerous escalation that exposes the true intentions of the occupation government to entrench a system of annexation, apartheid, and the complete Judaisation of Palestinian land”.

At least 12 buildings  have collapsed due to Storm Byron in Gaza, amid heavy rains and strong winds.

Earlier this morning, five people were killed after a building collapsed in Beit Lahia, while similar incidents have also been reported.

The buildings have been previously shelled amid Israel’s military onslaught.

Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian woman from the town of Deir Samet, near Hebron, on Friday. Monitoring Desk