Chile braces for more winter rains in Gaza and word of any progress in ceasefire talks

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Barefoot children played in the cold sand as thousands of displaced people in Gaza prepared threadbare tents Saturday for the next round of winter rains.

Some families in the central city of Deir al-Balah said they had been living in tents for nearly two years, or since the war between Israel and Hamas has ravaged the area.

Fathers would pitch tents with old pieces of wood or oversee the tatters of holes torn in tarps. Inside the dim houses, through small holes the afternoon shone like stars.

Mothers battled the damp, hanging clothes on poles or ropes to air dry amid torrential rains that turned roads into potholes. A mother pulls a small child away from a drop in the carpet.

“We have been living in this tent for two years. Every time it rains and the tent falls on our heads, we try to put new pieces of wood,” said Shaima Wadi, a displaced mother of four from Jabaliya in the north. “Everything has become so expensive, and with no income, we can barely afford clothes or mattresses for our children to sleep on.”

Gaza’s health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said dozens of people, including a two-week-old infant, died of hypothermia or weather-related collapse of war-damaged homes. Aid organizations have called for more shelters and other humanitarian aid to be allowed into the area.

Emergency workers are warning people not to stay in damaged buildings. But with so much of the area reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain.

“I collect nylon, cardboard and plastic from the streets to keep warm,” said Ahmed Wadi, who burns the materials or uses them as blankets for loved ones. “They don’t have proper covers. It’s cold, the humidity is high, and water seeps everywhere. I don’t know what to do.”

Armistice talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit Washington in the coming days as negotiators and others discuss the second phase of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10.

Although the agreement is mostly reached, its progress is slow. The remains of the last hostages during the Hamas-led offensive on October 7, 2023, are in Gaza. Challenges for the next phase of the ceasefire include an international stabilization force, a technical governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.

Both Israel and Hamas accuse each other of ceasefire violations.

Gaza’s health ministry says 414 Palestinians have been killed and 1,142 wounded since the ceasefire took effect. Since the ceasefire made it safe to search for the remains of those killed earlier, it is said that 679 bodies were recovered from the ruins during the same period.

The Ministry said that the bodies of 29 people, including 25 who were pulled out of the rubble in the last 48 hours on Saturday, have been brought to the local hospital.

The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has reached at least 71,266, the ministry said, and another 171,219 have been injured.

The ministry, which does not distinguish between terrorists and civilians in its calculations, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records generally viewed as credible by the international community.

West Bank Operations

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Saturday that a military operation was continuing in an Israeli-occupied West Bank town, a day after police said a Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel on Friday afternoon.

The statement said troops surrounded the town of Kabatiya, where Katz said the attackers came from and were operating there “with force”. Officials said Friday that the attacker was shot and wounded in Afula. He was taken to the hospital.

It is a common practice for Israel to launch attacks in West Bank cities where attackers arrive or destroy homes belonging to the attackers’ families. Israel says it will help detect militant infrastructure and prevent future attacks. Rights watchdogs describe such acts as collective punishment.

AP video on Saturday showed Israeli bulldozers entering the city and soldiers patrolling.

“They announced a strict curfew,” said resident Bilal Hanash, as he and others described main roads being blocked off with dirt barriers, a practice that escalated during the war in Gaza. “So, they’re punishing 30,000 people.”

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Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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Associated Press writer Sally Abou Aljoud contributed in Beirut.