Switzerland is preparing shelter materials for about 3,500 people in flood-hit Gaza, where aid agencies say shortages and access constraints are complicating preparations for the rainy season.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a post on X that the supplies would be delivered through the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The package includes 300 family tents with winter kits and 2,000 tarpaulins.
Anadolu Agency separately reported a Swiss contribution of 2 million Swiss francs to IOM's Common Pipeline Programme.
The Shelter Cluster estimated that rainy-season needs as of Nov. 1 included 121,000 tents, 561,000 tarpaulins, 57,000 emergency shelter kits and 1.7 million mattresses, according to a Nov. 5 report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The planned Swiss quantities are far below those broader estimates.
In a Nov. 8 report, OCHA said more than 150,000 tents procured by aid partners and member states were outside Gaza and “ready to be dispatched.” It also reported that stocks of tents, shelter coverings, blankets and clothing inside Gaza were nearly depleted.
OCHA said Israeli restrictions on bringing supplies and equipment into Gaza, along with funding shortfalls, constrained rainy-season preparations. The agency's account adds to EconoTimes' earlier coverage of storm damage to Gaza shelters.
