EU commissioner urges more aid for Gaza as floods hit camps
Heavy rain has flooded tents in Gaza's displacement camps, and the Gaza Government Media Office says about 70,000 have been hit.
European Union Commissioner Hadja Lahbib called on Sunday for greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip as heavy rain flooded displacement camps, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
Lahbib wrote on the social media platform X that families in Gaza were bailing water out of their tents with pots and pans.
She said the flooding had swept through camps sheltering displaced Palestinians and was making an already dire situation worse.
"The rain makes a crisis that was already unbearable worse," she said.
Lahbib said humanitarian organizations were continuing their work despite the storm but needed more support to keep operating.
"They need more aid to get in, now," she said.
Gaza's Government Media Office said storms that began late Friday flooded approximately 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians.
The office said damaged infrastructure and shortages of emergency equipment were complicating relief operations.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Thursday that about 1.98 million people in Gaza needed shelter and other essential supplies ahead of winter.
Most of Gaza's population has been displaced since the war began in October 2023, and aid deliveries have been a recurring concern for UN agencies and aid groups.
Heavy rain is especially dangerous for families living in tents, which offer little protection against water and cold.
