Shafaq News - Gaza
18 people died since the beginning of December after 22 residential buildings collapsed across Gaza, many of them weakened by the prolonged war and the ongoing shortage of reconstruction materials, Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said on Sunday.
In a statement, the agency reported that a collapsed wall crushed two tents sheltering displaced families in Khan Younis in the southern part of the Strip, killing four babies. Rescue teams also evacuated five people, including a child and two women, after part of a roof gave way at a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Elsewhere, two children were injured when their tent collapsed at the Abu Jabal camp in the Al-Amediya district. The agency urged residents living in structurally unsafe buildings to evacuate immediately and follow safety instructions issued by emergency teams.
The scale of the damage has also intensified pressure on Gaza’s already fragile health system. The Gaza Health Ministry recorded a sharp decline in medical services and drug availability, linking the shortages to restrictions on the entry of supplies into the enclave.
''Around 200,000 patients are currently unable to access emergency treatment, while all cardiac catheterisation and open-heart surgery services have come to a complete halt,'' the ministry added, calling for urgent international intervention to allow the delivery of medical supplies, while warning that further delays could deepen an already severe humanitarian crisis.
In a post on X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), cautioned that more than 100,000 children, along with 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza, are expected to face acute malnutrition by April if current conditions persist.
Pointing to hospitals and clinics struggling with shortages of essential equipment and supplies, he attributed delays in humanitarian deliveries to complex entry procedures and ongoing restrictions, further urging the immediate approval of medical shipments to Gaza’s health facilities.
Meanwhile, Palestinian media reported continued Israeli violations of the US-brokered October 10 ceasefire, including airstrikes, artillery fire, and demolitions across eastern Gaza. Military vehicles opened fire east of the Jabalia refugee camp, while helicopters carried out attacks in nearby areas.
Israeli aircraft also launched multiple strikes on eastern Gaza City, targeted Rafah in the south, and shelled areas near al-Bureij. Since the ceasefire took effect, Israeli attacks have killed 401 Palestinians and wounded 1,108, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, raising the overall toll since October 7, 2023, to 70,925 killed and 171,185 injured.