U.S. Senator Demands Gaza Aid After Floods Hit 70,000 Tents, Kill 4
(MENAFN) A US senator called on Israel Tuesday to open Gaza’s borders at once to rescue gear, building materials and winter supplies, after flooding killed four people and battered thousands of displaced Palestinians.
Addressing the Senate floor, Brian Schatz said torrential rain over the weekend inundated more than 70,000 tents across the territory. The dead include three children and a woman.
“Nearly everyone in the area needs help. This is a humanitarian emergency unfolding in real time, and the Israeli government’s ongoing blockade of fuel and the destruction of equipment has made getting help to people much more difficult. This is not a partisan accusation,” Schatz said.
The senator pointed to a rebuke from the Board of Peace, the body tied to US President Donald Trump, which labeled Israel’s handling of the crisis “insufficient.”
Schatz said the board also concluded that delays had deepened the damage from a humanitarian crisis that was foreseeable.
“Winter is just beginning in Gaza, and things will get worse without urgent action. The Israeli government must immediately allow rescue equipment, building materials, and winter supplies into Gaza,” the senator said.
He urged colleagues not to let divisions over the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict stall relief for civilians now in need. He described children left exposed to freezing temperatures and families whose shelters were wrecked by the downpour.
“We don’t need to agree about everything else before we help these people. We should help them because they are people,” he said.
Addressing the Senate floor, Brian Schatz said torrential rain over the weekend inundated more than 70,000 tents across the territory. The dead include three children and a woman.
“Nearly everyone in the area needs help. This is a humanitarian emergency unfolding in real time, and the Israeli government’s ongoing blockade of fuel and the destruction of equipment has made getting help to people much more difficult. This is not a partisan accusation,” Schatz said.
The senator pointed to a rebuke from the Board of Peace, the body tied to US President Donald Trump, which labeled Israel’s handling of the crisis “insufficient.”
Schatz said the board also concluded that delays had deepened the damage from a humanitarian crisis that was foreseeable.
“Winter is just beginning in Gaza, and things will get worse without urgent action. The Israeli government must immediately allow rescue equipment, building materials, and winter supplies into Gaza,” the senator said.
He urged colleagues not to let divisions over the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict stall relief for civilians now in need. He described children left exposed to freezing temperatures and families whose shelters were wrecked by the downpour.
“We don’t need to agree about everything else before we help these people. We should help them because they are people,” he said.
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