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Barefoot children played in the cold sand as thousands of displaced people in Gaza prepared their shabby tents for another round of winter rains on Saturday.
Some families in the central town of Deir al-Balah said they had been living in tents for about two years, or most of the war between the two countries. Israel and Hamas This has devastated the territory.
fathers Use old wood to support a worn tent, or check the rough edges of a torn hole in a tarp. In the dimly lit house, sunlight shines through tiny holes, shining like stars.
Mothers battled the humidity, hanging clothes on poles or ropes to dry in the wind as downpours turned paths into puddles. A mother pulls a child away from a moldy carpet.
“We have been living in this tent for two years. Every time it rains and the tent collapses on top of us, we try to put up new logs,” said Shaima Wadi, a displaced mother of four from Jabaliya in the north. “Everything has become so expensive and without any income we can barely afford clothes for our children or mattresses for them to sleep on.”
Gaza’s health ministry, which is part of the Hamas government, said dozens of people, including a two-week-old baby, had died from hypothermia or weather-induced collapse of war-damaged homes. Aid groups have called for more shelters and other humanitarian aid to be allowed into the area.
Emergency workers warned people not to stay in damaged buildings. But with so much of the territory reduced to rubble, there are few places to shelter from the rain.
“I collect nylon, cardboard and plastic from the street to keep warm,” Ahmed Wadi said. He would burn the materials or use them as blankets for his loved ones. “They didn’t have proper cover. It was cold, the humidity was high and water was coming in from everywhere. I didn’t know what to do.”
ceasefire talks
israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Negotiators and others are expected to visit Washington in the coming days to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire agreement that takes effect on October 10.
Although the agreement has largely come into force, its progress has slowed. The body of the last hostage remains in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war on October 7, 2023. Challenges in the next phase of the ceasefire include the deployment of international stabilization forces, a technocratic governing body in Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory.
Israel and Hamas have both accused each other of violating the truce.
The Gaza Ministry of Health stated that 414 Palestinians have been killed and 1,142 injured since the ceasefire came into effect. The bodies of 679 people were said to have been pulled from the rubble during the truce, which made it safer to search for the remains of those killed earlier.
The Health Ministry said on Saturday that 29 bodies had been sent to local hospitals in the past 48 hours, including 25 bodies that were pulled out from under the rubble.
The total number of Palestinian deaths in the war between Israel and Hamas has risen to at least 71,266, with another 171,219 injured.
The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its statistics, has medical professionals on staff and keeps detailed records that are generally considered reliable by the international community.
Operation West Bank
Military operations are continuing in a town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Saturday, after police said a Palestinian attacker rammed a car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, killing two people.
The statement said troops had surrounded the town of Kabatiya, where Katz said the attackers came from, and were operating “strongly” there. The attacker was shot and wounded in Afula, authorities said on Friday. He was taken to hospital.
It is common practice for Israel to launch attacks on West Bank towns where attackers come from or demolish the homes of their families. Israel says this helps locate militant infrastructure and prevent future attacks. Human rights watchdogs describe such actions as collective punishment.
Associated Press video on Saturday showed Israeli bulldozers entering the town and soldiers patrolling.
“They announced a strict curfew,” said resident Bilal Hanash. He and others described main roads being closed off with earthen barricades, a practice that has become increasingly prevalent during Gaza’s war. “So basically, they’re punishing 30,000 people.”
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For more AP Israel-Hamas coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
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Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.