At least 4 die in Gaza as makeshift homes take a battering in strong winds and rain, hospital says

(13 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zawaida, Central Gaza Strip – 13 January 2026
1. Various of nylon and fabric of tents of displaced people moving in the wind
2. Various of tents of displaced people destroyed by the wind
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Odai Marouf, displaced from Beit Lahiya:
"People living in tents are living in a set of tragedies - the tragedy of the bitter cold, the tragedy of the fear that the tent will collapse on their heads while they are asleep, the tragedy of rainwater submerging the tents as the young and old alike sleep, the tragedy of the tent blowing away, leaving its inhabitants (uncovered) at night, in this bitter cold and torrential rain.”
4. Various of tent blowing in the wind
5. Various of destroyed and wet tents, mud nearby
6. Various of displaced man trying to repair his tent after it was destroyed by rain and wind
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohamed al-Saalaha, 72-year-old man from the northern refugee camp of Jabaliya:
“It (the tent) doesn't work neither in summer nor in winter. What can a tent even do (in this weather)? We left behind houses and buildings (with) doors that could be opened and closed. Now we live in a tent; even sheep don't live like we do.”
8. Various of displaced man taking out covers from hole in his tent
9. Various of displaced woman Yasmain Shalha mending her torn tent
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yasmain Shalha, displaced woman from the northern town of Beit Lahiya:
“At night, the winds were very, very strong. The tent collapsed over us. We have no shelter or anything. As you can see, our situation is dire. You see how the tent is torn apart and how I'm sewing it.”
11. Shalha inspecting her destroyed tent
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yasmain Shalha, displaced woman from the northern town of Beit Lahiya:
"If anyone from an Arab country came to see (how we live), would any of them then accept women living in the same conditions we do? I am a woman, a mother sewing a tent to shelter my children, look at us. My husband has Parkinson's disease; he needs massages, he needs warmth, he needs everything.”
13. Various of tents of displaced people moving and being blown away by the wind
STORYLINE:
A teenage girl, two women and a man were crushed to death overnight in Gaza after walls collapsed onto their tents during rainfall and strong winds that lashed the coastal territory, hospital authorities said.

It was the latest show of the lethal living conditions that plague the territory after more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and aid shortfalls.

A ceasefire has been in effect since Oct. 10. But aid groups say that Palestinians in Gaza broadly lack the shelter necessary to withstand frequent winter storms.

The dead include two women, a 15-year-old girl and a 72-year-old man, according to the Shifa hospital, Gaza City’s largest hospital, which received the casualties.

One of the two women was killed when a wall collapsed on her tent in the western part of the city, it said.

The other woman, the girl and the man were from the same family.

They were killed when a wall collapsed onto their tent in a coastal area along the Mediterranean shore of Gaza City, the hospital said.

At least five others were injured in that collapse.

In the central town of Zawaida, Associated Press images showed inundated tents Tuesday morning with people trying to rebuild their shelters.

Yasmin Shalha, a displaced woman from the northern town of Beit Lahiya, was mending her tent. Strong winds overnight caused her tent to fall while the family was sleeping, she said.














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