\n<\/p>\n
More than 288,000 families in Gaza are enduring a shelter crisis as Israeli restrictions on humanitarian supplies worsen conditions for Palestinians displaced by the war, the territory\u2019s Government Media Office says.<\/p>\n
Local authorities said in a statement on Monday that heavy rainfall over recent days submerged tens of thousands of makeshift tents across Gaza, leaving Palestinians suffering under conditions that \u201cno society can endure\u201d.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The Government Media Office warned that Palestinians are facing \u201cthe most dangerous humanitarian disaster\u201d since the war began with Israel \u201cdeliberately deepening the catastrophe\u201d through its blockade of essential shelter materials.<\/p>\n \u201cWe strongly condemn this ongoing crime committed by the [Israeli] occupation against civilians,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hold the occupation fully responsible for the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced people who are facing the harshness of winter without safe shelter or basic services, and for its catastrophic crime of insisting on completely closing the crossings and preventing the entry of shelter supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n The flooding began on Thursday when the first winter storm hit Gaza. The United Nations confirmed more than 13,000 households were affected within hours.<\/p>\n Conditions deteriorated over the following days as the rain continued, overwhelming the worn tents that have housed displaced families for nearly two years.<\/p>\n Many displacement camps sit at lower elevations than surrounding areas. Al Jazeera\u2019s Hani Mahmoud reported on Monday that \u201csome areas are completely submerged\u201d after water rushed in from all sides.<\/p>\n Gaza authorities said the enclave requires 300,000 tents and mobile homes to provide basic shelter, a figure they have \u201cclearly stated\u201d for months.<\/p>\n However, Israel has prevented their entry despite a ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.<\/p>\n More than 80 percent of buildings across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the war, according to UN figures, forcing massive displacement.<\/p>\n Rights experts have said Israel\u2019s campaign that turned most of Gaza into rubble amounts to genocide. Actions that constitute a genocide, according to the United Nations, include \u201cdeliberately inflicting on [a] group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part\u201d.<\/p>\n On Monday, the Government Media Office accused Israel of \u201ccontinuing its policy of restriction and preventing the entry of tents, tarps and plastic covers\u201d while keeping border crossings closed and \u201creneging on implementing the humanitarian protocol\u201d it signed as part of the ceasefire.<\/p>\n COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is restricting humanitarian supplies.<\/p>\n But Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), described the situation last week as \u201cmisery on top of misery\u201d and warned that Gaza\u2019s fragile shelters \u201cquickly flood, soaking people\u2019s belongings\u201d.<\/p>\n UNRWA said it has enough supplies waiting in Jordan and Egypt to fill 6,000 trucks, including food to sustain Gaza\u2019s entire population for three months. Yet Israeli restrictions mean only about half the required 500 to 600 aid trucks a day are entering the territory.<\/p>\n UNRWA has also said it cannot bring pens and notebooks into the territory under import rules imposed by Israeli authorities.<\/p>\n Aid groups warned in early November that about 260,000 Palestinian families, totalling nearly 1.5 million people, faced vulnerability as winter approached.<\/p>\n Natalie Boucly, a senior UNRWA official, said Israel is breaching international humanitarian law by maintaining restrictions. Boucly cited the Fourth Geneva Convention and a recent International Court of Justice ruling that found Israel must ensure Palestinians have \u201cessential supplies of daily life\u201d.<\/p>\n British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said during a visit to aid warehouses in Jordan this month that Israel has \u201cno excuse\u201d for delaying humanitarian supplies.<\/p>\n Professor Mukesh Kapila of the University of Manchester said the restrictions represent deliberate strategy rather than logistical problems.<\/p>\n \u201cAccessing Gaza is one of the easiest regions where a humanitarian crisis is happening, so this is entirely a political act,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a deliberate Israeli strategy to keep up pressure on Hamas on the hostages and possibly disarmament, but it is compounding human suffering in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n The Government Media Office statement called on United States President Donald Trump and mediator countries to the ceasefire to \u201ctake serious and immediate action to force the occupation to comply with what it signed\u201d in the truce and humanitarian protocol.<\/p>\n According to Gaza\u2019s Ministry of Health, at least 266 people have been killed since the truce began with Israeli forces carrying out strikes almost daily even in areas where troops were supposed to withdraw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n More than 288,000 families in Gaza are enduring a shelter crisis as Israeli restrictions on humanitarian supplies worsen conditions for Palestinians displaced by the war, the territory\u2019s Government Media Office says. Local authorities said in a statement on Monday that heavy rainfall over recent days submerged tens of thousands of makeshift tents across Gaza, leaving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
\u2018Aid restrictions are entirely political\u2019<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"