Gaza Rainstorm Devastation Was Preventable, Aid Team Says, as 150,000 Tents Wait 50 Kilometres Away
The Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement that the devastating impact of the latest rainstorm in Gaza was preventable. Children and adults were killed, critical services suspended, and thousands of family shelters flooded, swept away or torn apart, not by the storm alone, but by policy decisions, the statement said.
The country team said that as the occupying power, Israel is obliged to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival. Yet Israeli policies continue to obstruct the entry of critical items, as well as access to most of Gaza's land, including areas away from the shoreline that are less prone to flooding. Incoming supplies face multiple approval requirements, limiting crossing capacity, and unpredictable or narrow delivery windows that delay their entry.
Although funding has fallen far short of what is needed, more than 150,000 tents procured by humanitarian partners and member states are outside Gaza, ready for dispatch, most of them in El Arish, just 50 kilometres away from Khan Yunis. The country team called on the Israeli authorities to immediately ensure that Palestinians in Gaza have access to life-saving supplies and that their entry is expedited in sufficient quantities through every available crossing.
Source: 巴勒斯坦被占领土人道主义国家工作队
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图中是加沙地带Al-Mawasi地区流离失所巴勒斯坦人居住的帐篷区航拍图。来源：Ashraf Amra, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo, via Wikimedia Commons。
