One million Palestinians in Gaza, besieged and ravaged by over 11 months of conflict, urgently need shelters before winter, warns the Shelter Cluster Palestine, led by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
According to the Shelter Cluster, “At least 25,000 protection kits, equivalent to 25 trucks, must be delivered weekly to southern Gaza before the end of November to address the overwhelming needs. In August, an average of only two trucks per week reached the southern region of the strip with shelter materials, representing merely 8% of the weekly requirements.”
The report emphasizes that “over one million displaced Palestinians in central and southern Gaza are in dire need of these protection kits as winter approaches. A significant portion of the tents and shelter materials provided by humanitarian agencies over the past year has become unusable due to wear and tear.”
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. Some have sewn together old rice sacks to ensure 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,” stated Alison Ely, coordinator of the Shelter group in Gaza.
“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”.
“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. Aid agencies have few materials to distribute, but families cannot wait”, added Ely.
