Gaza floods damage 40,000 shelters as EU presses Israel on aid
Khalil al-Hayya called for an emergency relief campaign and the EU urged Israel to reopen crossings, as UN figures put those affected at 226,000.
Heavy rain and winter storms have flooded tens of thousands of tents and shelters across Gaza, forcing displaced families out of the little cover they had, while aid agencies warn that tents, tarpaulins and blankets inside the strip are nearly exhausted.
Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas leader, called for an emergency international relief campaign and urged pressure on Israel to let shelter supplies into Gaza and to meet its ceasefire commitments, Anadolu Agency reported. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, issued a statement on behalf of the bloc calling on Israel to allow "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian aid into Gaza and to reopen all border crossings, Arab News reported.
The United Nations said on Friday that flooding had affected about 226,000 people and that more than 40,000 shelters had been reported damaged, according to Arab News.
Islamic Relief said it delivered more than 2,200 blankets this week to affected families, many of them households with young children, elderly people and people with medical needs who are living in makeshift tents and overcrowded shelters. The charity said more than 1.9 million people in Gaza urgently need shelter and that around 60% of the tents in use require immediate replacement. Nearly a million displaced people are at risk of flooding over the coming months as winter sets in, it said.
The World Health Organization warned on Friday that respiratory infections were rising sharply, with overcrowding, poor sanitation and flooded shelters raising the risk of outbreaks, Arab News reported.
The EU statement also addressed Thursday's Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which the bloc said killed six people, including a surgeon, and injured at least 27. The strike hit the hospital's surgical department, damaging the building and disrupting services at one of Gaza's few remaining functioning hospitals. Israel's military said it had targeted a Hamas commander and other militants it says were operating inside the facility, and did not provide evidence, Arab News reported. The UN and 17 Arab and Muslim-majority countries, among them Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt, condemned the strike and called for medical facilities to be protected.
Aid agencies say Israeli restrictions and funding shortages are hindering emergency relief operations, according to Arab News. The EU said assistance must not be "diverted by armed groups", reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution and said Hamas should have no role in Gaza's future government. It called for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which it described as including the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a transition to civilian governance.
How the reports differ
Anadolu Agency led with Khalil al-Hayya's call for an emergency relief campaign and his demand that Israel allow shelter supplies in and honour ceasefire commitments, a framing the other two reports did not carry. Arab News led with the EU statement and added the Nasser Hospital strike, the UN and WHO figures and the condemnation by 17 Arab and Muslim-majority countries, none of which appear in the other accounts. Islamic Relief Worldwide, a charity, reported its own distribution of 2,200 blankets and its estimates that about 60% of tents need replacing and nearly a million displaced people are at risk this winter; its release also carries staff biographies and a donation appeal. Only Arab News gave the UN's figure of 226,000 people affected by the flooding.
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