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’s 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 Palestinians suffering under conditions that “no society can endure”.
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The Government Media Office warned that Palestinians are facing “the most dangerous humanitarian disaster” since the war began with Israel “deliberately deepening the catastrophe” through its blockade of essential shelter materials.
“We strongly condemn this ongoing crime committed by the [Israeli] occupation against civilians,” it said.
“We 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.”
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.
Conditions deteriorated over the following days as the rain continued, overwhelming the worn tents that have housed displaced families for nearly two years.
Many displacement camps sit at lower elevations than surrounding areas. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported on Monday that “some areas are completely submerged” after water rushed in from all sides.
Gaza authorities said the enclave requires 300,000 tents and mobile homes to provide basic shelter, a figure they have “clearly stated” for months.
However, Israel has prevented their entry despite a ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.
More than 80 percent of buildings across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the war, according to UN figures, forcing massive displacement.
Rights experts have said Israel’s campaign that turned most of Gaza into rubble amounts to genocide. Actions that constitute a genocide, according to the United Nations, include “deliberately inflicting on [a] group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”.
On Monday, the Government Media Office accused Israel of “continuing its policy of restriction and preventing the entry of tents, tarps and plastic covers” while keeping border crossings closed and “reneging on implementing the humanitarian protocol” it signed as part of the ceasefire.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is restricting humanitarian supplies.
But Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), described the situation last week as “misery on top of misery” and warned that Gaza’s fragile shelters “quickly flood, soaking people’s belongings”.
UNRWA said it has enough supplies waiting in Jordan and Egypt to fill 6,000 trucks, including food to sustain Gaza’s 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.
UNRWA has also said it cannot bring pens and notebooks into the territory under import rules imposed by Israeli authorities.
Aid groups warned in early November that about 260,000 Palestinian families, totalling nearly 1.5 million people, faced vulnerability as winter approached.
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 “essential supplies of daily life”.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said during a visit to aid warehouses in Jordan this month that Israel has “no excuse” for delaying humanitarian supplies.
‘Aid restrictions are entirely political’
Professor Mukesh Kapila of the University of Manchester said the restrictions represent deliberate strategy rather than logistical problems.
“Accessing Gaza is one of the easiest regions where a humanitarian crisis is happening, so this is entirely a political act,” he told Al Jazeera.
“It 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.”
The Government Media Office statement called on United States President Donald Trump and mediator countries to the ceasefire to “take serious and immediate action to force the occupation to comply with what it signed” in the truce and humanitarian protocol.
According to Gaza’s 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.