LONDON: A steep sand cliff collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza on Sunday evening, killing two women and three children and injuring five other people, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Rescue teams at the Ard El-Rebat displacement camp in Deir Al-Balah first recovered a woman’s body from beneath the sand, then found four more bodies, including those of three children, WAFA reported, citing its correspondent.

Rescuers also pulled five injured people from the site and continued searching for the missing.

The collapse came as heavy rain and strong winds battered Gaza, flooding tents and damaging shelters across the territory. Palestinian media reported that the storms, which began late Friday, had flooded 70,000 tents and brought down dozens of walls.

Gaza’s Civil Defense said it had received at least 1,500 emergency calls and warned that more than 2,000 buildings were at risk of collapse. They said at least 300,000 tents were needed to provide adequate shelter for displaced people affected by the severe weather.

The storms have compounded Gaza’s humanitarian crisis as aid groups accuse Israel of maintaining severe restrictions on aid supplies entering the war-torn territory.