Deadly Tent Fire in Gaza Highlights Harsh Conditions as Winter Sets In

A grandmother and her 5-year-old grandson burned to death in Gaza when their nylon tent caught fire while cooking a meal, underscoring the perilous living conditions faced by displaced Palestinians as colder weather sweeps through the region.

The tragedy occurred Thursday night in the Yarmouk displacement camp, where thousands of Palestinians continue to endure harsh winter conditions in makeshift shelters. The victims, identified as Amal Abu Al-Khair and her grandson Saud, perished when flames engulfed their tent during meal preparation.

“The ceasefire must hold, and access must be sustained, safe and urgently scaled up so that aid, fuel and critical medical supplies can move quickly and consistently, at the volume required,” said American actor Angelina Jolie, who visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Friday to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis.

Despite the 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which has largely halted large-scale bombardment, Palestinians continue to face deadly threats. On Friday, a hospital official reported two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli gunfire in separate incidents in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza. Israel’s military stated troops killed a person who “crossed the Yellow Line and approached the troops, posing an immediate threat to them.” The Yellow Line delineates areas under Israeli control.

The recent cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities across Gaza, causing flooding, turning dirt roads into mud, and leading to building collapses. Aid organizations have criticized the insufficient flow of shelter materials into Gaza during the truce, with data suggesting Israel hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 aid trucks into Gaza daily—a claim disputed by Israeli authorities.

Palestinians have repeatedly called for mobile homes and caravans to be permitted into Gaza to provide more secure shelter than the worn-out tents that have proven dangerous and inadequate against winter conditions. The World Food Program noted last month that there have been “notable improvements” in food security since the ceasefire began, though Israel maintains that Hamas has been diverting aid supplies throughout the conflict.

During her visit to the region, Jolie, who worked with the UN refugee agency for more than two decades until 2022 including as a special envoy, also met with Palestinian patients at a hospital in the nearby Egyptian city of Arish. Her visit aimed to highlight the plight of displaced people and humanitarian workers in both Gaza and Sudan.

The reopening of the Rafah crossing remains contentious. Israel has indicated it will only allow Palestinians to leave Gaza, not enter, until militants return all hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war. The remains of one hostage are still in Gaza. Palestinians seeking to exit Gaza would require Israeli and Egyptian security approval.

Egypt, meanwhile, insists the crossing should immediately open in both directions to allow Palestinians currently in Egypt to return to Gaza—a position stemming from Egypt’s strong opposition to Palestinian refugees permanently settling within its borders.

On Friday, foreign ministers from several Arab and Muslim countries, including Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, issued a joint statement expressing concern about Gaza’s deteriorating humanitarian situation, which they described as “compounded by the continued lack of sufficient humanitarian access, acute shortages of essential life-saving supplies, and the slow pace of the entry of essential materials.”

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the Palestinian death toll from the war stands at least 71,271, a figure that doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians. The Israel-Hamas war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Meanwhile, Israeli operations continue in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Prisoners media office reported that Israel conducted numerous raids across the territory on Friday, including in major cities like Ramallah and Hebron, detaining nearly 50 people. This followed the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, primarily in the Ramallah area. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society claims Israel has arrested 7,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem this year alone, and 21,000 since the war began.

Israel’s military described the arrests as targeting people “involved in terrorist activity,” coming days after a Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel, killing both.