Storm kills five in Gaza as sandstone slab crushes tents

A storm in Gaza killed five people, including three children and two women, when a sandstone slab collapsed onto tents in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. Rescue teams are searching for missing people. The collapse occurred at a shelter centre south of Deir al-Balah, where a sandy embankment fell onto tents housing displaced people, according to civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal. The agency warned displaced people against staying near sand masses and elevated soil mounds during rainfall. Separately, heavy rains flooded around 70,000 tents sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people, prompting hundreds of families to flee camps in Gaza City and elsewhere. The incidents follow a fragile ceasefire that began on 10 October 2025, after two years of war.