DaysofPal- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has issued an urgent appeal to allow the entry of shelter supplies into Gaza ahead of winter, warning that critical materials are being held just hours away from the besieged enclave.
According to UNRWA, it currently has sufficient shelter materials, including tents, tarpaulins, and plastic sheeting, to provide basic cover for around 1.3 million displaced Palestinians.
However, these supplies are being blocked from entering Gaza due to Israeli restrictions on aid convoys.
“UNRWA has what’s needed, sitting just a few hours’ drive away, and has the teams and infrastructure to distribute it,” the agency stated on X .
The call comes amid a worsening humanitarian crisis as tens of thousands of Palestinians who returned to northern Gaza following the recent ceasefire discovered their homes and neighborhoods in ruins after months of relentless Israeli bombardment.
Many are now sleeping in the open or under makeshift shelters as winter approaches.
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said last week that the UN hopes to deliver thousands of tents to Gaza to help families who have lost their homes or are living in inadequate conditions.
He emphasized the urgency of scaling up humanitarian operations before the rainy and cold season, which typically exacerbates health risks and displacement hardships.
In a related statement, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, also urged the Israeli occupation to lift its restrictions and permit the urgent entry of shelter materials, including tents and mobile homes, into Gaza.
“Even immediate relief and aid to the people of Gaza is not possible unless the Israeli occupation stops controlling all the entry points. That is essential,” Rajagopal said.
Humanitarian groups warn that without these supplies, the already dire situation could become catastrophic.
Thousands of families remain exposed to the elements, lacking not only shelter but also clean water, sanitation, and basic healthcare.
UNRWA and other UN agencies have repeatedly stated that bureaucratic delays, inspection bottlenecks, and security restrictions at the Israeli-controlled crossings have crippled the flow of humanitarian assistance. Aid organizations stress that the supplies, many of which are already staged in Egypt and Jordan, could be delivered within hours if access were granted.
The situation underscores the broader challenge faced by international humanitarian efforts in Gaza, where over 2 million people, most of them displaced, rely on aid for survival after nearly a year of conflict and blockade.
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