Category News

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip deteriorated sharply late last week during Storm Byron, which brought heavy rainfall and strong winds.

Widely circulated video on social media showed Palestinian Civil Defence teams scrabbling through the rubble of fallen buildings, trying to rescue people trapped beneath.

But why did those homes fall? And what has the impact been on people in Gaza? Here’s what we know:

What is happening in Gaza?

Many damaged homes in Gaza collapsed during the recent storm, trapping people in their rubble.

At times, parts of buildings and walls fell onto nearby tents where displaced Palestinians were living, compounding the risks for civilians already enduring precarious conditions.

Thousands of Gaza families are sheltering in structurally compromised buildings, having lost their own homes during the war, with no safe alternatives available.

The heavy rainfall of Storm Byron turned these weakened structures into direct threats as floodwaters inundated tens of thousands of tents.

Why are these houses falling?

It’s not just the rain that caused the collapses, rather it is because two years of intense bombing during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza have made these structures unstable.

In addition, Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza that prevents the entry of any building materials people can use to fix their homes.

Thousands of residential buildings were damaged by direct strikes, nearby bombardments and ground incursions, leaving cracks in columns and foundations, separation of load-bearing walls and partial roof collapses.

People with nowhere to go have little choice other than to shelter wherever they can, including in homes that are only partially standing.

Heavy rain exacerbates the damage. Water seeps into cracks, weakening foundations and columns while saturated soil erodes beneath buildings, increasing the risk of sudden collapses.

Overcrowding inside damaged homes further stresses weakened structures as multiple families are often forced to live together in a single house or floor.

In many cases, displaced residents pitch tents next to or even on top of the ruins of damaged buildings, exposing themselves to falling walls and concrete blocks during storms.

Displaced people often cannot leave, even when they know the risks. Often, they have no other option, or they see damaged homes as better shelter than deteriorating tents.

In late September, Gaza’s Government Media Office estimated that 93 percent of tents (about 125,000 out of 135,000) were no longer suitable for habitation.

How many people have been hurt or killed by these collapsing homes?

The recent storm killed 11 Palestinians in less than 24 hours and caused widespread structural damage.

According to the Government Media Office, 13 homes collapsed and 27,000 tents were flooded or swept away.

Civil Defence and Ministry of Health sources said the 11 victims were found dead under rubble in collapsed homes or in nearby tents. Another six were injured.

Fatalities included children, women and elderly people, and officials confirmed a baby girl died from extreme cold. Incidents were reported in Gaza City, northern Gaza, and central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.

Collapses occurred in Gaza City’s Nassr neighbourhood, Shati refugee camp and Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood.

One man was killed when a wall collapsed in the Shati camp.

During the storm, the Civil Defence received more than 2,500 distress calls from displaced people.

Authorities warned that the death toll is likely to rise as further low-pressure systems and rainfall continue to cause homes to collapse.

Has there been any help for these impacted people?

Because of the conditions imposed by Israel, the emergency response has been limited.

Civil Defence teams struggled to evacuate those trapped under rubble because they face a shortage of heavy machinery, rescue equipment and fuel as well as flooded roads.

The Civil Defence has urged residents to get out of damaged homes during the storms.

Authorities stressed that the continuation of Israel’s blockade increases the likelihood of similar incidents during future storms.

Authorities have not been able to provide alternative shelters or habitable tents for unhoused families.

In some areas, aid has been limited to small distributions of blankets and basic relief items that are insufficient to meet the needs of Palestinians facing falling temperatures and widespread infrastructure damage.

Municipalities have been unable to carry out preventive drainage or repair work due to the destroyed infrastructure and a lack of resources, so the people of Gaza remain vulnerable to future storms.

Is there anything that people in Gaza can do to stay safe?

Unfortunately, options are extremely limited or nonexistent.

Thousands of people are unable to relocate due to the absence of safe housing or shelters.

There are also restrictions on movement imposed by the “yellow line” demarcating the portion of Gaza under Israeli army control. People in at-risk areas cannot move to safer locations.

On top of that, people lack tools for structural reinforcement, waterproofing or heating.

People can take only minimal measures, such as moving children to more stable areas, using blankets or raising their belongings off the ground, but these do not prevent collapses or flooding.

UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said the suffering could be reduced if humanitarian aid were allowed to enter Gaza without obstacles.

It said flooded streets and soaked tents are worsening already dire living conditions and increasing health risks.

Far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party – who claims to be inspired by US President Donald Trump – has won Chile’s presidential run-off election, marking a major shift in the Latin American nation’s political landscape.

Kast, who campaigned on a promise to expel undocumented migrants and crack down on crime, secured 58 percent of the votes against left-wing candidate Jeannette Jara, who won 42 percent, in one of the most polarised elections in recent memory. In the first round, Kast finished second to Jara. But he went on to dominate the December run-off with strong support from across the right wing.

“Chile needs order – order in the streets, in the state, in the priorities that have been lost,” the 59-year-old conservative hardliner, who will take office on March 11, 2026, told supporters in his victory speech.

His victory is widely seen outside Chile as part of a broader shift to right-wing politics in Latin America, with conservative leaders winning elections in Ecuador and Bolivia in recent months.

Who is Jose Antonio Kast?

Kast has run for president multiple times. He lost to incumbent President Gabriel Boric in 2021 elections, receiving 44 percent of the vote. In the 2017 elections, he contested as an independent candidate, winning some eight percent of the votes.

After serving for more than 10 years as a congressman from the centre-right Independent Democratic Union (UDI), he stepped down in 2016.  Then, in 2019, the 59-year-old leader founded the Republican Party, a more hard-line political entity, appealing to voters disillusioned with mounting insecurity and economic stagnation.

He trained as a lawyer but later entered politics, becoming a councilman for the city of Buin in 1996.

Kast was born in 1966 in Santiago, the capital city, to German immigrants with links to Nazis.

His father was a member of the Nazi Party in Bavaria before emigrating to Chile after World War II. However, the president-elect has claimed his father was a forced Nazi conscript.

Kast’s older brother Miguel was a central bank president and a government minister in the early 1980s during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet. Under his 17-year dictatorship, thousands of people were killed, forcibly disappeared and tortured.

The president-elect is an admirer of Pinochet.

Kast is married to Maria Pia Adriasola, a lawyer, with whom he has nine children.

What does he stand for?

A staunch Catholic, Kast opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. He has stated in the past that he would revoke the country’s limited abortion rights and prohibit the sale of the morning-after pill.

Consuelo Thiers, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, said Kast will be the most right-wing president since Pinochet.

“Kast is the first president since the end of the dictatorship to have openly supported Pinochet,” she told Al Jazeera.

“[Former President Sebastian] Pinera, the last right-wing president, voted against Pinochet in the 1988 referendum and also embraced some progressive policies, such as the legalisation of same-sex marriage,” she added.

By contrast, Kast supports extremely conservative positions, Thiers said, adding that he was also in favour of granting freedom to individuals convicted of human rights violations committed during Pinochet’s rule.

Jenny Pribble, professor of political science and global studies at the University of Richmond, said Kast has frequently pointed to El Salvador as a model for his tougher laws on crime policies.

“He regularly voiced support for Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s ‘mano dura’ [Iron-fist] crackdown on gang violence, arguing that Chile needs ‘more Bukele’,” Pribble told Al Jazeera.

“It remains to be seen if Kast could or would pursue such an approach, but if Chile follows the Salvadoran model, it would constitute significant democratic backsliding.”

What are his key policies?

Kast campaigned on public safety, promising to take an iron-fisted approach to crime in Chile – despite the country being one of the safer nations in Latin America.

He has pledged to send the military to high-crime areas, and has promised to build more prisons. An IPSOS poll of Chilean voters in October showed 63 percent of respondents said security was a top issue for them.

The president-elect also takes a tough approach to migration. He has proposed building a police force inspired by the United States’ agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has carried out a number of “military-style” raids on migrant communities and workplaces in the US this year in search of undocumented people, many of whom have been detained for deportation.

ICE is responsible for managing the US federal immigration system and has come under increased criticism for its conduct towards immigrants across the country, including those residing there legally.

Similar to US President Donald Trump, Kast has proposed building infrastructure around the country’s northern border to stop people from coming in, and has vowed to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants.

Analyst Patricio Navia said tackling the issue of undocumented migrants will be his “biggest challenge”.

“According to estimations, there might be up to 400,000 undocumented immigrants,” Navia, a professor at New York University, told Al Jazeera.

“It will be impossible to expel all of them from the country,” he added, but noted that in recent weeks, Kast has “walked back some of his harsher statements”.

“I think he will try to find a balance between his harsh campaign promises and the reality that many of those immigrants contribute to the national economy and are now an integral part of Chilean society,” Navia added.

Kast has also threatened to impose a state of siege in the Araucania region of Chile in order to expel armed Indigenous groups. The measure he is proposing would give the military sweeping powers, including warrantless searches and arrests, and would suspend key civil rights.

How have other countries responded to Kast’s win?

Right-wing allies in the region are celebrating Kast’s victory as part of a broader conservative resurgence across Latin America.

Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei was among the first to congratulate him. “Enormous joy at the overwhelming victory of my friend José Antonio Kast,” he posted on X.

Ecuador’s right-wing President Daniel Noboa, meanwhile, said that “a new era is beginning for Chile and for the region”.

Congratulations to Chilean President-Elect @JoseAntonioKast on his victory. The United States looks forward to partnering with his administration to strengthen regional security and revitalize our trade relationship.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his country “looks forward to partnering with his administration to strengthen regional security and revitalise our trade relationship”.

The Foreign Ministry of Spain’s leftist government said it will look to “continue strengthening the friendship between our peoples and the strategic relationship between our two countries”.

What does Kast’s win mean for regional politics?

Chile’s election result is part of a wider regional shift towards conservative and, in some cases, far-right leadership, according to Edinburgh University’s Thiers.

“These leaders have largely come to power on similar promises, particularly the pledge to repair economies in severe distress, as in Argentina, and to improve security in a region where organised crime is rapidly expanding,” she said.

“Many people see in these candidates the promise of a drastic change that could significantly improve their lives,” Thiers added, noting it also reflects a global trend in which incumbents find it “increasingly difficult” to win re-election, “as voters punish them by choosing opposition figures who promise something radically different”.

Meanwhile, academic Navia described recent right-wing victories as “just alternation in power”.

“I would not suggest that the countries are becoming more conservative or illiberal,” he said.