Winter storms have devastated displacement camps across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 people including three babies from hypothermia as freezing temperatures and heavy rains lash the war-torn territory.
More than 53,000 displacement tents have been partially or fully flooded, swept away by torrents or torn apart by strong winds, according to humanitarian officials. Approximately 90% of shelters for displaced Palestinians were completely flooded during the latest polar low-pressure system.
The United Nations reports that 1.3 million Palestinians need urgent shelter this winter, with nearly 80% of buildings in Gaza destroyed or damaged. Officials say among those killed due to weather conditions were a two-week-old baby and an eight-month-old, both of whom died of hypothermia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is traveling to the United States for meetings as the humanitarian crisis deepens. Since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, with the overall Palestinian death toll from the war reaching at least 71,266.
According to UNRWA, Israeli authorities continue to prevent the agency from bringing in shelter and other essential supplies, with enough materials for 1.3 million people waiting outside Gaza to enter.
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