UN: Palestinian child drowns after floodwaters submerge tent in Gaza

The United Nations said on Thursday that a Palestinian child in the Gaza Strip drowned after floodwaters surrounded and flooded his family’s tent in the camp where they were living, highlighting the growing hardship caused by winter conditions.

Video footage showed rescue workers trying to recover the child’s body from muddy water by pulling him by the ankle. The incident is the latest sign of the severe suffering faced by Gaza’s residents during the winter season.

Health officials also reported the death of another child, aged nine, in Gaza on Thursday, but the circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces carried out a wide arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank, detaining around 50 Palestinians, most of them from their homes, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

At the start of 2026, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began 12 weeks earlier, largely ended the heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza. However, Palestinians continue to be killed almost daily by Israeli fire, and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of easing.

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