AhlulBayt News Agency: Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have warned that the polar storm “Byron” has created a compounded humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, worsening civilian suffering amid Israel’s ongoing genocide and blockade of essential relief supplies.
In a statement released Saturday, the GMO reported that the storm caused deadly building collapses and widespread flooding, especially in areas previously bombed and structurally weakened. Civil defense teams recovered the bodies of 11 victims from collapsed buildings, while search operations continue for one missing person. At least 13 homes collapsed across Gaza’s governorates, all of which had been damaged in earlier Israeli attacks.
The storm destroyed or flooded more than 27,000 displacement tents, with over 53,000 tents partially or completely damaged. The GMO said more than 250,000 displaced Palestinians were directly affected, out of approximately 1.5 million people currently living in fragile tents and overcrowded shelters offering little protection against severe weather.
Initial direct losses are estimated at $4 million, with the displacement sector suffering the greatest damage as shelters turned into pools of water and mud. Losses also extended to infrastructure, roads, water and sanitation systems, food supplies, agriculture, health services, and energy sources, including the destruction of solar panels and alternative lighting in displacement sites.
The GMO emphasized that these impacts were not solely a natural disaster but the predictable outcome of Israeli policies that blocked the entry of more than 300,000 tents, mobile homes, and caravans, and prevented the construction of safe shelters. It said the closure of crossings and obstruction of emergency supplies violate international humanitarian law and place civilians—especially women, children, and the elderly—at grave risk.
Separately, the IOM warned that hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians face heightened risks of flooding and disease outbreaks. The organization said about 795,000 displaced people are living in low-lying, rubble-filled areas where unsafe shelters are highly vulnerable to floods.
The IOM added that poor sanitation and waste management significantly increase the risk of epidemics, while essential materials such as timber, plywood, sandbags, and water pumps remain blocked from entering Gaza due to Israeli restrictions.
Local medical and civil defense sources reported that at least 14 people were killed and others injured within 24 hours due to consecutive building collapses, freezing temperatures, and widespread flooding caused by the storm.
Both the GMO and IOM stressed that the crisis underscores the extreme fragility of displacement conditions in Gaza, where most residents have been forcibly displaced multiple times during the genocide. Hundreds of thousands endured nights in torn tents under heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding as storm Byron continued for a third day.
The GMO placed full responsibility on Israel for the humanitarian catastrophe and urged the international community, the United Nations, humanitarian agencies, ceasefire guarantors, and donor states to pressure Israel to open crossings unconditionally.
It demanded the immediate entry of shelter materials, emergency supplies, and mobile housing in accordance with humanitarian protocols, warning that further storms could cause even greater loss of life if urgent action is not taken.
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