Gaza Genocideupdated 27m ago3 min read
Doctors Without Borders Warns 1.98 Million Palestinians in Gaza Face Shelter Crisis as Floods Worsen
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70,000 tents flooded, leaving about 350,000 people exposed. Shortages of medicines and heating equipment worsen conditions.
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Winter shelter crisis deepens
Médecins Sans Frontières warned that about 1.98 million Palestinians, representing 94% of the territory’s population, face shelter conditions at crisis or worse as the fourth winter of the war begins in the Gaza Strip. Médecins Sans Frontières said more than 400,000 people live in displacement sites exposed to high flood risks, and it warned that floods, a drop in temperatures, and the spread of diseases are worsening humanitarian conditions. Three children aged four, five, and eight were killed along with their mother over the weekend when sand dunes collapsed on their tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza after heavy rain.
Heavy rainfall directly affected more than 106,000 people, destroying shelters and toilets and damaging belongings, while UNICEF warned that more children could die without proper shelter and functioning water and sanitation systems. Médecins Sans Frontières called on Israeli authorities to immediately allow the entry of shelter materials, blankets, fuel, and medical supplies, and it said entry restrictions on basic shelter materials continue because Israeli authorities classify them as dual-use items.
Flooded camps, failing services
Bashar Murad, director of health programs at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip, warned that around 70,000 tents were flooded during the recent storm, affecting tens of thousands of Palestinians amid severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies and heating equipment. Murad told Voice of Palestine radio that the mixing of rainwater with sewage in displacement camps threatens to spread diseases and epidemics, and he said there was an increase in upper respiratory tract infections and cases of meningitis. There are currently no facilities in Gaza that are able to treat wastewater, and UNICEF warned that in Gaza City rainwater mixed with sewage will overflow from the rainwater collection basin in the Sheikh Radwan area where only two of six pumps are working.
UNICEF continues to seek approval from Israeli authorities for more than a year to bring in the equipment needed to repair the Sheikh Radwan rainwater collection basin. UNICEF reported that in the past week alone it reached at least 10,000 children with winter clothing and thermal blankets, distributed thermopads to families flooded in their tents, and removed wastewater and rainwater from more than 50 sites.
Aid access and repair materials
Eva Hrncirova urged Israel to ensure full humanitarian access to Gaza, warning that heavy flooding and worsening winter conditions were deepening the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Hrncirova told reporters in Brussels, "We call for rapid, safe, and unhindered access to Gaza to be able to alleviate suffering of the people there," and she said "Not all the crossings are open for humanitarian aid." Channel 12 News said Israeli security apparatus, under directives of the political level, was preparing arrangements to allow entry of equipment and materials previously subject to tight restrictions, including cement, iron, steel, and certain types of pipes.
The report said the American side transmitted messages to Israel urging the advancement of sewage network repair projects and the improvement of Gaza’s infrastructure, especially after the recent cold spell and the risks it posed to residents and the displaced. The report said final details of the proposed mechanism, the timeline for starting entry of materials, or the quantities that may be allowed to pass had not yet been clarified, while it described the materials as classified by Israel as “dual-use” goods.