Europe criticizes Israel after Gaza floods 70,000 tents, leaves 560,000 children unsheltered

Save the Children said that approximately 70,000 tents were flooded in Gaza in a single day during the first winter storm, leaving more than 560,000 children without safe shelter. The foreign ministers of Ireland and the United Kingdom criticized Israel’s restrictions on aid.

UK-based Save the Children said that heavy rainfall during the weekend storm that marked the beginning of winter in Gaza flooded approximately 70,000 tents in a single day. Families were forced to flee camps inundated at night, while more than 1,500 calls for assistance were made to civil defense teams.

Save the Children said that 1.2 million people, including more than 560,000 children and representing approximately 58 percent of Gaza’s population, are living in critical or catastrophic shelter conditions. In Gaza, where temperatures have fallen to as low as 5 degrees Celsius, children are spending their fourth consecutive winter in worn-out tents. The organization stressed that Israel is restricting the entry of tents, tarpaulins, blankets, fuel and heating equipment, and recalled that 11 children died from hypothermia last year.

Gazze'de şiddetli yağışlarda hasar gören çadırlar

Ireland: Aid restrictions are unacceptable

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said in a social media post that she was “deeply concerned” by reports about the flooding in Gaza. Pointing to United Nations reports that more than 26,000 households had been affected, McEntee described Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian aid as “condemnable and unacceptable.”

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said in a video posted during the G7 meeting in Paris: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is getting worse. Heavy rain. Flooded tents. The UK government will not stand by.”

Photos: AA, Ed Miliband / X