Middle East & North Africa
Gaza: UN and aid partners say “lives are at stake” and press Israel to let winter supplies in after deadly rain
The UN Humanitarian Country Team says the weekend storm in Gaza was preventable and calls for tents and winter supplies to enter, noting more than 150,000 tents waiting outside the Strip.
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners on Friday urged that winter supplies be allowed into the Gaza Strip, saying “lives are at stake” after deadly rainfall at the weekend. The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said the impact of the storm “was preventable” and was caused “not by the storm alone, but by policy decisions”, according to UN News.
What the humanitarian team said
The HCT brings together the heads of UN agencies and of international and local aid groups. It said children and adults were killed, critical services were suspended and thousands of family shelters were flooded, swept away or torn apart.
The group recalled a plan presented several months ago to prepare for winter: shelter, health and protection services, drainage and sandbag reinforcement, and supplies such as tents, warm clothes, blankets and equipment for pumping water and clearing debris and explosive ordnance.
Claims about Israeli restrictions
The statement stressed Israel’s obligation as the Occupying Power to meet the basic needs of Gaza’s population. It said Israeli policies “continue to obstruct” the entry of critical items and access to most of Gaza’s land, citing multiple approval requirements, limited crossing capacity and narrow delivery windows. These are the partners’ assertions; the UN report carried no Israeli response.
Funding has fallen far short of need, the partners noted, yet more than 150,000 tents are outside Gaza waiting to be dispatched, while every rainstorm destroys more tents inside.
Demands
“Winter will last for months,” the HCT said, adding that longer-lasting shelter must not be made conditional on political progress. It asked the Israeli authorities to speed up the entry of life-saving supplies, lift restrictions and allow repairs to water and wastewater networks, and urged member states to use their influence and provide funding without delay.
Earlier this week Geopolitiki reported on UN relief chief Fletcher to governments on Gaza winter aid: “No more delay” and on UK adds £5 million for Gaza winter aid as Greece, Cyprus and dozens of states back UN Call to Action.
Source: UN News.
