UN Expert Urges Nations to Send Ships With Aid to Gaza

Albanese wrote on social media Tuesday that Israel should open all Gaza crossings and allow in tents, modular housing, clean water, nutrient-rich food and medicines. If Israel refused, she said, “any principled leader would send humanitarian vessels to break the siege.”

The appeal comes as heavy weekend rains flooded about 70,000 tents, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. At least four children and two women died in the flooding. About 1.4 million people are living in makeshift shelters; The Guardian reported that sewage has entered some tents after storms damaged sanitation infrastructure. Roughly 940,000 people live in tent areas at risk of flooding.

More than 150,000 tents are awaiting Israeli authorization to enter Gaza, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The International Rescue Committee said Monday that aid groups had about 2,800 tents available, against a need for roughly 121,000, and no emergency shelter kits. CARE Palestine interim country director Beckie Ryan said displaced families were scooping water from tent floors and losing belongings, including clothing, bedding, medication and documents. She called for all crossings to open and for shelter and construction materials and machinery to be admitted.

Only one crossing for humanitarian cargo is currently operating, relief organizations say, creating delays in food, medicine and shelter deliveries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Hamas for allegedly diverting aid for military use; The Associated Press reported that he provided no supporting evidence. The US-led Gaza Board of Peace said Israeli restrictions had “exacerbated the consequences of a foreseeable humanitarian challenge.”

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that the situation was worsening and Britain would “not stand by.” Albanese made her proposal in response. Spain and Italy previously sent naval vessels to assist the activist-led Global Sumud Flotilla, intercepted by Israel last year, but no government has publicly pledged to send its own ships to force aid through the blockade. On Tuesday, British Labour MP Richard Burgon introduced a motion urging stronger action; he said it had received more than 50 signatures.