A wave of severe weather and extreme cold that has been hitting the Gaza Strip since Thursday has claimed the lives of 13 Palestinians in less than 24 hours, in addition to a series of widespread collapses in several areas.
Civil defence teams are continuing search and rescue operations under the rubble. Palestine’s news agency (WAFA) quoted sources in the Civil Defence and ambulance services in Gaza as saying that six Palestinians died when a family home collapsed in the Bir Al-Na’ja area in the northern Gaza Strip.
Two others died when a wall collapsed in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City last evening, and one person died on Thursday after a wall collapsed in the Shati refugee camp.
The sources added that a child died due to the extreme cold in Khan Younis, while two other children died as a result of the severe cold in Gaza City. A person also died when a residential building collapsed, and rescue teams are still searching for missing persons under the rubble