Gaza: A million Palestinians in need of shelter aid before winter

By Middle East Monitor

With the amount of aid that Israel is currently allowing into Gaza, it will take humanitarian agencies more than two years to deliver the kits needed to prepare tents, makeshift shelters and damaged homes south of Wadi Gaza for this coming winter, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council-led Shelter Cluster in Palestine.

At least 25,000 sealing-off kits, the equivalent of 25 truckloads, must be delivered per week to southern Gaza before the end of November, to meet the incredible needs. In August, an average of just two trucks per week crossed into the south with shelter items, just eight per cent of what is needed weekly.

Over one million displaced Palestinians in central and southern Gaza urgently need these sealing-off kits before winter arrives. Many of the tents and shelter materials provided by aid agencies throughout the last year are now unsuitable due to wear and tear. Replacements have been scarce, with few new tents entering Gaza in recent months. The Shelter Cluster calls on donor governments to demand that Israel urgently allow in these basic materials to weather-proof shelters in Gaza before temperatures drop.

“After being forced to flee time and time again, hundreds of thousands of families in Gaza are living in inadequate tents and makeshift shelters,” explained Alison Ely, Shelter Cluster coordinator in Gaza. “Some have sewn together old rice sacks to ensure that they have something, at least, between them and the sky. When winter comes, these shelters will not keep them safe from strong winds, heavy rains and cold temperatures.”

Ely said that the international community, including the United States, the United Kingdom and European Union member states, “must insist that Israel facilitates the delivery of sealing-off kits to southern Gaza.”

Most displaced people in Gaza are living south of Wadi Gaza in small, overcrowded tents or makeshift shelters. Sealing-off kits, consisting of two tarpaulins, one plastic sheet, rope and duct tape, are the bare minimum required to ensure shelters are weather-proof for winter. Without this, families are at risk of hypothermia and other more severe health conditions, says the World Health Organisation.

“On Sunday, unusually early rain caused widespread panic and unrest, as Palestinians searched for tarpaulins or any other materials to protect themselves from the rain,” added Ely. “Aid agencies have few materials to distribute, but families cannot wait.”

The UN reports that 1.9 million Palestinians have been internally displaced in Gaza. The vast majority are in southern Gaza (OCHA).

As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has an obligation to facilitate humanitarian assistance under Article 59 (1) of the Fourth Geneva Convention.