‘Lives are at stake’: Humanitarians call for swift entry of winter supplies in Gaza

Displacement camp inundated by heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip.

Winter supplies must enter the Gaza Strip where “lives are at stake”, the UN and partners said in an urgent appeal on Friday, in the wake of deadly rainfall this past weekend.

“The devastating impact of the latest rainstorm in Gaza was preventable,” the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement.

“ 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 HCT brings together heads of UN agencies and international and local non-governmental organizations who recalled that several months ago they had presented a plan to help Palestinians prepare for the current winter season.

It outlined what they would deliver, such as shelter, improved health and protection services, drainage and sandbag reinforcement, and identified various supplies that need to enter Gaza.

These include tents, warm clothes and blankets as well as equipment for pumping water, removing debris and clearing explosive ordnance.

The plan also spelled out the need for sufficient funding, expedited entry of critical supplies and access to higher ground .

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