DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Barefoot children played on chilly sand as Gaza's thousands of displaced people prepared threadbare tents on Saturday for another round of winter rain.

Some families in the central town of Deir al-Balah said they had been living in tents for about two years, or for most of the conflict between Israel and Hamas that has devastated the territory.

Fathers braced fraying tents with old pieces of wood or inspected the ragged edges of holes torn in tarps. Inside the dim homes, daylight through tiny holes shone like stars.

Mothers battled the damp, slinging clothing over poles or cords to dry in the wind between the downpours that turn paths into puddles. One mother pulled a tiny child away from a mildewing patch of carpet.

"We have been living in this tent for two years. Every time it rains and the tent collapses over our heads, we try to put up new pieces of wood," said Shaima Wadi, a mother of four children who was displaced from Jabalia in the north. "With how expensive everything has become, and without any income, we can barely afford clothes for our children or mattresses for them to sleep on."

Gaza's Health Ministry has said dozens of people, including a two-week-old infant, have died from hypothermia or after weather-related collapses of war-damaged homes. Aid organizations have called for more shelters and other humanitarian aid to be allowed into the territory.

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

"I collect nylon, cardboard and plastic from the streets to keep them warm," said Ahmad Wadi, who burns the materials or uses them as a kind of blanket for loved ones. "They don't have proper covers. It is freezing, the humidity is high, and water seeps in from everywhere. I don't know what to do."

Ceasefire talks

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

Though the deal has mostly held, its progress has slowed. The remains of the final hostage taken during the Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, that sparked the conflict are still in Gaza.

Challenges in the next phase of the ceasefire include the deployment of an international stabilization force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of truce violations.

The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict has risen to at least 71,266, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces tightened restrictions on Palestinian villages in the West Bank on Saturday following a reported shooting.

In the central West Bank, Israeli forces closed the entrances to several villages near Ramallah after gunfire was reported near a military checkpoint, Palestinian security sources said, adding the closures disrupted movement for residents of 13 villages.

The Israeli army initially said a Palestinian opened fire near the Hashmonaim checkpoint and fled, but later said the incident was related to "hunting activity". Israeli forces have continued operations to locate the individual and confiscate the weapon, they said.

Agencies - Xinhua