Aid team urges faster entry of tents into Gaza after deadly flooding

The Humanitarian Country Team, which brings together UN agencies and aid organisations, said on 13 November that more than 150,000 tents bought by aid partners and member states were outside Gaza, ready for dispatch. Most were in Al-Arish, Egypt.

The team said the impact of the storm was preventable and that Israeli policies had contributed to it by obstructing supplies and restricting access to safer land. It cited approval requirements, limited crossing capacity and short or unpredictable delivery windows, as well as a funding shortfall. It called on Israel to expedite supplies through every available crossing and on other countries to provide more funding.

Heavy rain and wind hit Gaza from 6 November. By 8 November, aid partners had received requests for help from more than 26,000 households whose shelters or belongings had been damaged, according to the UN humanitarian office, OCHA. A preliminary assessment by the Site Management Cluster reported more than 6,000 family shelters destroyed and another 17,400 damaged.

OCHA, citing Gaza’s civil defence, reported that five displaced people, including three children, were killed when a sandy hill collapsed onto tents near Deir al-Balah. ABC News, citing local health authorities, reported four deaths from a collapsing sand bank. The accounts have not been reconciled.

Shelter supplies were already scarce before the storm. The International Rescue Committee said the Shelter Cluster estimated on 1 November that families needed about 121,000 tents, while aid groups had around 2,800 in stock inside Gaza.

Israel’s military said on 9 November that more than 91,000 tents and over 8,200 trucks carrying winter supplies had entered Gaza since its preparedness plan began. It said about half of approved requests had not been carried out, partly because of logistical and budgetary difficulties. The figures for tents already inside Gaza and those waiting outside describe different stocks at different dates.

Israel has restricted some equipment, citing the risk that it could be used by Hamas. The military said it was reviewing equipment and seeking alternatives. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office blamed Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and accused it of stealing aid, ABC reported.

Families have been trying to reinforce their shelters themselves. ABC spoke to Sharif Abu Shaar, who was salvaging metal from damaged buildings in Khan Younis. He said the sheets covering his shelter still had holes that allowed rain to seep through.