UAE prepares aid ship as winter storm batters Gaza

The loading of the 11th Mohammed Bin Rashid Humanitarian Ship commenced on Thursday at Khalifa Port (KEZAD) in Abu Dhabi. The vessel is scheduled to sail for the Port of Al Arish in the Arab Republic of Egypt, where its aid will then be transported into the Gaza Strip as part of the UAE’s sustained humanitarian efforts supporting the Palestinian people.

Aimed at alleviating civilian suffering in Gaza, the shipment is comprehensively equipped. It includes food supplies, shelter materials, relief kits, clothing, and hygiene parcels.

Furthermore, it carries medicines and medical equipment to support the health sector, along with essential field gear to bolster relief efforts.

This mission is one in a series of UAE humanitarian initiatives, reflecting the nation’s unwavering commitment to the Palestinian people. It supports affected families and strengthens relief operations in cooperation with its charitable and humanitarian institutions, continuing the UAE’s long-standing tradition of extending aid to those in need worldwide.

Meanwhile, rain drenched Gaza’s tent camps and dropping temperatures chilled Palestinians huddling inside them on Thursday as winter storm Byron descended on the war-battered territory, showing how two months of a ceasefire have failed to sufficiently address the spiraling humanitarian crisis there.

Families found their possessions and food supplies soaked inside their tents. Children’s sandaled feet disappeared under opaque brown water that flooded the camps, running knee deep in some places.

Trucks moved slowly to avoid sending waves of mud toward the tents. Piles of garbage and sewage turned to waterfalls.

Aid groups say not enough shelter aid is getting into Gaza during the truce. Figures recently released by Israel’s military suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.

“Cold, overcrowded, and unsanitary environments heighten the risk of illness and infection,” the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in a terse statement posted on X.

“This suffering could be prevented by unhindered humanitarian aid, including medical support and proper shelter.”

At least three buildings in Gaza City already damaged by Israeli bombardment during the war partially collapsed under the rain, Palestinian Civil Defense said. It warned people not to stay inside damaged buildings, saying they could too could fall down on top of them.

The agency also said that since the storm began, they have received more than 2,500 distress calls from citizens whose tents and shelters were damaged in all parts of the Gaza Strip.

Aid groups say that Israel isn’t allowing enough aid into Gaza to begin rebuilding the territory after years of war.

Under the agreement, Israel agreed to comply with aid stipulations from an earlier January truce, which specified that it allow 600 trucks of aid each day into Gaza, It maintains it’s doing so, but The Associated Press has found that some of its own figures call that into question.

The January truce also specified that Israel let in an agreed-upon number of caravans and tents. No caravans have yet entered Gaza during the ceasefire, said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli group advocating for Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement.

Amjad al-Shawa, Gaza chief of the Palestinian NGO Network, told Al Jazeera on Thursday that only a fraction of the 300,000 tents needed had entered Gaza. He said that Palestinians were in dire need of warmer winter clothes and accused Israel of blocking the entry of water pumps to help clear flooded shelters.

Separately, Israel said on Thursday that Hamas “will be disarmed” as part of the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza, after a top leader from the Palestinian Islamist movement suggested a weapons freeze.

Top Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera that the group is open to a weapons “freeze,” but rejects the demand for total disarmament put forward in Trump’s plan for the Palestinian territory.

Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister’s office, said “Israel will continue to follow the 20-point plan. There will be no Hamas inside of the Gaza Strip. Hamas will be disarmed.”

Agencies