A displaced grandmother and her grandson burn to death in Gaza tent fire

A grandmother and her 5-year-old grandson burned to death in a Gaza City displacement camp when their tent caught fire on Thursday night, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza.

Amal Abu al-Khair was one of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians enduring cold winter weather in makeshift housing.

Her son Muhammad was cooking dinner when a fire broke out in their nylon tent at the Yarmouk displacement camp. Strong winter winds fuelled the flames and made it impossible to control the blaze.

“The tent served as both living and cooking space, with limited room and flammable materials like plastic utensils inside,” said Mona Abu al-Khair, a relative of the two victims.

“While Muhammad was cooking, the hot cooking oil ignited and spread rapidly,” she went on.

“Due to his poor eyesight and the confined space, he could not control the fire. His mother attempted to extinguish it but was unsuccessful, allowing the fire to engulf the entire tent.”

Muhammad sustained third-degree burns and remained in critical condition.

On Friday, relatives of Amal Abu Khair and her grandson Saul held a funeral for the two victims at a Gaza City hospital.

Over the past few weeks, cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities, causing flooding, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing damaged buildings to collapse.

At least six children died in Gaza in December amid “extreme winter conditions and lack of safe shelters,” according to the United Nations’ children agency.

Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce. Figures recently released by Israel’s military suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.