UN: Gaza-bound shelter materials refused entry, leaving displaced masses exposed

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans face flooding of their tents and shelters by heavy rains, and materials for shelters and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.

COGAT, the Defense Ministry agency that oversees humanitarian matters in Gaza, did not immediately comment on the claim, but on Tuesday said it was working “continuously to support a winter humanitarian response for the civilian population” with 270,000 tents and tarpaulins shipped into the Strip and repairs made to critical infrastructure.

The UN statement came as Hamas’s civil defense agency said that 11 people had died across the Strip as a result of Storm Byron, including a baby and a nine-year-old girl who died from cold exposure in displacement camps, and other people killed when structures collapsed under the heavy rain. The deaths could not be independently verified.

Nearly 795,000 displaced people are at heightened risk of potentially dangerous flooding in low-lying, rubble-filled areas where families are living in unsafe shelters, the IOM said.

Insufficient drainage and waste management also heightened the risk of disease outbreak, the UN agency added.

Materials to help reinforce shelters such as timber and plywood, as well as sandbags and water pumps to help with flooding, have been delayed from entering Gaza due to ongoing access restrictions, the IOM said.

Supplies already dispatched to Gaza — including waterproof tents, thermal blankets and tarpaulins — were not able to withstand the flooding, the IOM added.

“After this storm made landfall yesterday, families are trying to protect their children with whatever they have,” IOM Director General Amy Pope said.

Israel says it is meeting its obligations and has repeatedly accused aid agencies of inefficiency and failing to prevent theft of supplies by Hamas and other terror groups.

About 1.5 million people are displaced in Gaza, and over half the Strip’s structures have been destroyed amid the war with Israel that was sparked when Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 and taking 251 hostages.

Of the remaining structures still standing in Gaza, roughly 40 percent are moderately or severely damaged, according to the UN.

Palestinian and UN officials said at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced.