More than 150,000 tents remain stranded outside the enclave as rainfall worsens sanitation conditions and threatens to overwhelm damaged drainage systems.
More than 150,000 tents intended for displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain blocked outside the territory pending Israeli authorization, the United Nations said, warning that delays in delivering essential winter supplies are compounding an already severe humanitarian crisis.
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The shipments include 117,000 tents held by the Egyptian Aid Committee in El Arish, Egypt, according to UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. Humanitarian agencies have the logistical capacity to transport the supplies as soon as border crossings are opened, he said.
UN Humanitarian Affairs chief Tom Fletcher said the anticipated formation of a new government in Tel Aviv was no justification for further delays in delivering essential winter supplies. He called for all border crossings to be opened, non-governmental organizations to be allowed to operate and what he described as collective punishment of civilians to end.
Heavy rains are flooding displacement sites across Gaza.
Tents have collapsed, children are wading through contaminated water & families are losing what little they have.@UNmigration is working to help, but needs far exceed available resources. https://t.co/y2zEW1JeRR pic.twitter.com/LfFwUtIdFk
— United Nations (@UN) November 9, 2026
Fletcher warned that continued inaction was prolonging suffering that was both foreseeable and preventable. The UN’s planned response includes the immediate delivery of warm clothing, heating systems, fuel, generators and specialized equipment to pump water and clear rubble.
The urgency has increased following weekend rainfall, which has further aggravated sanitation and public health conditions across the devastated territory.
No wastewater treatment plants are currently operational in Gaza. In Gaza City, contaminated rainwater threatens to overwhelm the Sheikh Radwan basin, where only two of the six drainage pumps remain operational.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been seeking Israeli approval for more than a year to bring in spare parts needed to restore the water network, but its requests have yet to be approved.
The restrictions on humanitarian assistance come amid the Israeli military campaign launched in October 2023, which has killed more than 74,600 Palestinians and wounded nearly 176,000, most of them women and children. An estimated 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure has also been destroyed.
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