The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said aid groups received appeals from more than 26,000 Gaza households reporting damage after flooding affected shelters and belongings.
OCHA said aid groups had assessed 1,877 households and assisted 422 by Nov. 8. The requests do not mean every household’s reported damage has been assessed.
At a Nov. 9 briefing, European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova called on Israel to allow aid into Gaza, Anadolu Agency reported. She said some crossings remained closed to aid deliveries and that the EU had repeatedly raised access with Israel. Hrncirova said flooding and cold weather could increase health risks for displaced families living in tents.
OCHA estimated that 1.4 million people in Gaza were living in tents or makeshift shelters. Supplies of tents, tarpaulins, blankets and clothes inside Gaza were nearly depleted, the agency said, even as more than 150,000 tents were ready for dispatch from outside the territory.
Further Israeli approvals and funding were needed to bring in shelter materials and machinery, OCHA said. The equipment sought included machinery to drain floodwater.
