The UN has warned that severe flooding across hundreds of displacement sites in Gaza was placing nearly half of the territory's population at heightened risk as heavy rains worsen already dire conditions.
"Heavy rains have flooded tents, soaked people's belongings and increased health risks, including hypothermia among babies and illnesses linked to overflowing sewage," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq reported at a news conference on Thursday, citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"Today, our teams on the ground set up a system for a rapid joint response to flooding alerts," he said, adding that UN agencies, along with non-governmental organisations, were involved in distributing tents, tarps, warm clothes, blankets and dignity kits across Gaza.
He also said that a rapid joint response system in the enclave had already "processed over 160 flooding alerts" since early Thursday.
Noting that UN partners on the ground were helping families prepare for the floods by distributing empty flour sacks to be used as sandbags, along with tools and sand wherever possible, Haq said: "Based on their flood risk analysis, more than 760 displacement sites hosting roughly 850,000 people are at the highest risk of flooding."
"That's about 40 percent of Gaza's population," he added.
Haq emphasised the "immense needs," adding that "restrictions on humanitarian operations must be eased or lifted."
"This includes ending the ongoing ban on most international NGOs and on UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees), which continue to serve communities despite operating under severe constraints to further scale up the response," he said, noting the need for opening more crossings and routes to "bring a wider range of relief items into Gaza."
Disasters, one after another
Since Wednesday, thousands of tents housing survivors of Israel's carnage have turned into pools of water, soaking bedding, clothing, and food supplies and leaving hundreds of Palestinian families exposed to the cold without warmth or shelter.
According to earlier data, Gaza needs around 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after the destruction of the enclave's infrastructure in two years of Israeli genocide.
Israel destroyed infrastructure over two years of war. The UN estimates the cost of reconstructing Gaza at about $70 billion.
Israel has killed over 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its carnage in Gaza since October 2023.
