KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- Floods triggered by Gaza's first winter storm have destroyed approximately 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinian families within just 12 hours, prompting Malaysian Humanitarian Aid and Relief (MAHAR) to call for unimpeded humanitarian access to the territory.
MAHAR President Adjunct Prof Jismi Johari said the floods were not merely a natural disaster, but a direct consequence of the conditions in which the people of Gaza have been forced to live without safe shelter.
“Some 1.4 million people in Gaza were still living in tents and makeshift shelters when this storm hit.
“Fabric tents cannot withstand the rain, let alone a winter that has only just begun. What they need now is sturdy shelter, blankets, winter clothing and working drainage, and all of this must be allowed in without restriction,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
In light of this, MAHAR urged the international community to ensure that shelter assistance, including caravans, mobile homes, tarpaulins and winter supplies, reaches Gaza urgently and without restriction.
It also urged the international community and United Nations agencies to continue pressing Israel to lift restrictions on the entry of goods into Gaza, particularly equipment to pump out floodwater, replacement tents and food supplies.
MAHAR further called on Malaysians to continue their prayers and to contribute to the victims through legitimate, registered channels.
Floods have struck the Gaza Strip since Nov 6, destroying the shelters of tens of thousands of Palestinian families who had already lost their homes to war.
Heavy rain and strong winds during the season’s first winter storm flooded approximately 70,000 tents within just 12 hours, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that as of Nov 8, more than 26,000 households had appealed for help after their shelters or belongings were damaged.
More than 6,000 family shelters were destroyed outright, a further 17,400 were damaged, and more than 3,900 households are now left with no shelter at all.
The disaster has also claimed the lives of at least five people, including three children, who were killed when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents at the Ard al-Ribat displacement camp in Deir el-Balah, while an infant was reported to have drowned.
-- BERNAMA