Gaza faces winter crisis amid tent ban with winter approaching

Gaza: The Government Media Office in Gaza has warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe as winter approaches, amid the continued Israeli occupati...

Gaza: The Government Media Office in Gaza has warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe as winter approaches, amid the continued Israeli occupation's ban on the entry of tents, tarpaulins, and cooking gas into the Gaza Strip, despite the widespread destruction of civilian homes and shelter centers.

Director of the Office Ismail Al Thawabta stated that this ban exacerbates the suffering of more than one and a half million displaced people living in the open or in dilapidated tents that offer no protection from cold or rain.

He affirmed that preventing the entry of shelter materials, fuel, and cooking gas constitutes a compounded crime that violates basic human rights and contradicts international law and the Geneva Conventions, which obligate the occupying power to provide civilians with essential needs.

He noted that these measures fall within the framework of collective punishment policies pursued by the occupation against Gaza's residents, and represent a continuation of the war of starvation, displacement, and slow extermination inflicted on the Palestinian people since the onset of aggression.

Al Thawabta stressed that the occupation bears full legal and moral responsibility for the continued prevention of essential humanitarian supplies, particularly tents, shelter materials, cooking gas, fuel, and other necessities.