Some tents enter Gaza but Red Cross says enclave needs many more
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Over 1.3 million Gazans currently lack tents, according to the UN, and further displacement is anticipated as Israel conducts a major assault on Gaza City.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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GENEVA – The Red Cross said on Sept 8 that it has distributed more than 300 tents to displacement camps in southern Gaza in recent days but warned that the current supply of shelter materials to the enclave falls far short of urgent needs on the ground.
In addition to the 300 tents, more than 1,500 are expected to be delivered in the coming days, the Red Cross added, but said hundreds of thousands of people desperately needed new tents
“Many displaced families are living in appalling conditions – some among the rubble of their destroyed homes, others in makeshift tents constructed from tarpaulins and scrap metal,” Ms Sarah Davies, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Reuters.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters separately that humanitarian groups had sent “a limited number of tents” into Gaza in recent weeks, but many more were needed.
More than 1.3 million Gazans currently lack tents, according to the UN, and further displacement is anticipated as Israel conducts a major assault on Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of residents are living among the ruins.
Cogat, the Israeli defence agency that deals with humanitarian issues, told Reuters that 5,000 tents had entered Gaza since restrictions on shelter materials were lifted near the end of August.
Aid organisations say Israel effectively blocked deliveries of materials for shelter for nearly six months, and despite the lifting of the restriction in August, international non-governmental organisations such as Care International, ShelterBox and the Norwegian Refugee Council reported on Sept 8 that they have yet to receive authorisation to deliver such materials.
Cogat said: “Every organisation that wants to enter tents is absolutely allowed to do so.”
The International Organisation for Migration told Reuters that it still has about 35,000 tents as well as half a million tarpaulins waiting in Jordan pending customs clearance.
Mr Karl Baker, regional crisis coordinator and head of IOM Gaza Response, said: “It’s frustrating. We need political solutions, and then you can remove things like customs clearance, and then we can move quicker.”
Israel’s assault has reduced much of the enclave to rubble
More than 64,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, according to health officials in Gaza.
The war began with an assault by Hamas-led fighters on southern Israel in 2023. The attackers killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. REUTERS
