A Palestinian child has lost his life in the northern Gaza Strip after falling into a rainwater-filled channel, as a powerful winter storm battered the besieged enclave and highlighted the deadly consequences of Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on civilian life.

According to local sources and Gaza’s civil defense service, seven-year-old Atta Ma’moun Mi from the town of Beit Lahia drowned after slipping into a ditch filled with rainwater that had accumulated following heavy rainfall. The channel, carved and deepened by recent storms, posed a lethal hazard amid widespread destruction and the absence of basic safety measures.

Footage circulating from the scene showed exhausted civil defense crews struggling for hours to retrieve the child’s body in the al-Sudaniya area of northwestern Gaza, relying on rudimentary tools and limited equipment. Rescue teams battled harsh weather conditions, strong winds, and flooding waters, eventually recovering Atta’s body after nearly six hours of continuous search efforts.

The tragedy comes as Gaza faces worsening humanitarian conditions due to Israel’s relentless bombardment and systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, drainage systems have collapsed, and makeshift shelters offer little protection against seasonal storms. With roads damaged, sewage systems destroyed, and safe housing scarce, children and families are increasingly exposed to life-threatening dangers.

Civil defense officials warned that the ongoing rains and strong winds have already claimed numerous lives. At least 14 Palestinians have been killed, and dozens more injured, after homes, tents, and weakened buildings collapsed under the impact of severe weather in recent days. Many of these structures had been previously damaged by Israeli airstrikes, leaving them unable to withstand even moderate rainfall.

Humanitarian organizations and local authorities continue to stress that such deaths are not natural disasters but the direct result of prolonged siege, destruction, and denial of basic protections. As winter conditions intensify, fears are growing that more civilians—particularly children—will fall victim to flooding, collapsing structures, and exposure, in a Gaza Strip left deliberately uninhabitable by war. (ILKHA)