Gaza authorities blame international inaction after mudslide kills five displaced residents
Five people, including four children, died when a sandbank collapsed onto a tent in Deir el-Balah following heavy rain, prompting Gaza officials to criticize the global response.
Heavy rain on Friday triggered a landslide that collapsed a sandbank onto a tent in Deir el-Balah, killing four children and a woman and leaving two people missing, Gaza authorities said. The incident occurred as the first winter storm of the year flooded displacement camps and weakened structures already damaged by Israeli air strikes.
The Gaza Government Media Office issued a statement condemning what it described as “global indifference and inaction” and held Israel, the United States and the international community responsible for the lack of shelter supplies and rescue equipment.
“This is a scene that should shame the conscience of humanity and reflects the extent of the complicity and abandonment to which our … people are subjected,” the office said.
Residents, living in tents on exposed ground, were forced to dig with their bare hands because specialist search-and-rescue tools are scarce under Israeli military restrictions. Al Jazeera reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum noted that the victims had no chance to escape when the embankment gave way.
“When the embankment collapsed, those people had no chance to escape or protect themselves, and this raises difficult conditions about what people on the ground are left to endure,” he reported.
Save the Children estimated that about 70,000 tents were flooded and that more than half a million children are in “critical or catastrophic” shelter conditions. The organization warned that the ceasefire announced in October 2025 has not allowed entry of more durable shelters such as caravans, which it says Israel has repeatedly blocked.
The statement also criticized the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza for what it called “a state of inaction” and “flagrant abdication of responsibilities.”
Since the conflict began on October 7, 2023, more than 74,600 people have been killed, according to Gaza authorities, with over 1,600 Palestinians killed after a ceasefire took effect in October 2025.