The Peace Council, a body set up by President Donald Trump for the peace process in the Gaza Strip, today asked Israel to “act immediately” in the face of the “humanitarian emergency” caused by storms in the Palestinian enclave.
© Faiz Qreqa / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
09/11/2026
by
Lusa
O The Peace Council, an agency set up by President Donald Trump for the peace process in the Gaza Strip, today asked Israel to “act immediately” against the “humanitarian emergency” caused by the storms in the Palestinian enclave.
Since the end of last week, these storms flooded tens of thousands of tents of displaced people and killed five people, including three children.
“ The situation is no longer just a threat linked to the arrival of winter, but an immediate humanitarian emergency,” he warned the organization in a press release published on the X network.
The Peace Council urged the Israeli authorities to “authorise and facilitate the entry of all necessary supplies” and to fully implement the commitments made under the White House plan for the end of the war on the territory.
The body is responsible for the implementation of the ceasefire, in force since 10 October last year, but since then accompanied by successive accusations of rape on both sides, while Israeli attacks have become almost daily.
This morning, the COGAT, the body of the Israeli Ministry of Defence responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, stated that it had implemented a “plan of preparations for winter in the Gaza Strip” in coordination with the UN and the Council.
Over 91,000 tents and 8,200 trucks loaded with winter supplies and vaccines entered the Gaza Strip, the COGAT reported, also reporting on progress in water and sanitation infrastructure projects.
On Saturday, a coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations called for pressure on Israel to allow the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid.
The storms that hit the Gaza Strip on Friday and Saturday affected 18,860 displaced families distributed in 339 camps, today the Ministry of Social Development of the Palestinian enclave controlled by the Islamist Hamas group.
After an evaluation of the damage, the ministry indicated in a statement that most of the families affected (8,319) are in the Gaza City region (north of the enclave), with their shelters damaged due to heavy rains and strong wind.
On the other hand, the central region of the territory recorded the highest number of camps affected, with a total of 141, detailed the statement.
The Ministry of Social Development stated that it is working in coordination with various humanitarian and assistance organisations to distribute tents and plastic tarps to families with wholly or partially destroyed shelters.
In turn, the Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah and managing parts of the West Bank, released another balance sheet today, stating that the first winter storm of 2026 in the Gaza Strip flooded almost 70,000 tents belonging to displaced persons within a 12-hour period.
“ Meanwhile, Israeli occupying authorities continue to prevent the entry of some 50,000 tents into the Gaza Strip, as they remain blocked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing,” the Palestinian Authority said.
The Peace Council also urged Hamas to respect its ceasefire commitments by interrupting military activities in civilian areas and deposing weapons.
More than a year after the ceasefire began, 1.65 million inhabitants are forced to spend the fourth winter in precarious tents and damaged buildings due to Israel's continuing restrictions and lack of external funding, according to data from the Norwegian Refugee Council.
In addition, some 44,000 people live in more than 2,300 buildings whose structures are considered unsafe, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, provoked on October 7, 2023 by attacks led by Hamas in southern Israel, at least 74,643 people were killed and 175,962 were injured in the enclave, according to numbers from the Hamas Ministry of Health and which are considered credible by the UN.
Over 1,600 of those victims have been killed since the outbreak of the ceasefire.
The roadmap of the entity set up by Trump, which received UN endorsement, provides for the gradual withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas militias, the creation of a Palestinian technocratic body to manage the territory, together with the deployment of an international stabilisation force.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to withdraw his forces until the disarmament of the Palestinian militias was completed.