Gaza floods: EU urges Israel to allow immediate, unimpeded aid access after deadly rains

Floods hit displaced families in Gaza

Heavy rains have flooded tens of thousands of tents belonging to displaced people in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian rescue services, five people have died, three of them children. The figures on flooded tents and deaths come from Palestinian sources, as the articles report them. The floods add to winter conditions that have made life even harder for a population that is already under strain. In a statement published on Saturday, 14 November, the European Union described the humanitarian crisis in the territory as devastating. The statement was issued under the name of the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.

What the EU is demanding

The EU has urged Israel to give humanitarian and rescue organisations immediate and unimpeded access to Gaza. It also asks for a sustainable distribution of aid and for all of the territory's border crossings to be reopened. Kallas said Israel should make it easier for the United Nations, its agencies and humanitarian groups, including NGOs, to carry out their work in Gaza. The statement stresses that Israel must meet all its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The EU said the flooding and winter weather are making a population already at its limit even worse off.

Airstrikes and the Nasser hospital

Israeli strikes killed 11 people on Thursday, 12 November, according to Palestinian emergency services, and six of those deaths occurred at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Kallas said the EU was deeply concerned about the recent airstrike on that hospital.

All killed in strikes, 12 November11

Killed at Nasser hospital, 12 November6

All killed in strikes, 12 November

11 people

Killed at Nasser hospital, 12 November

6 people

Data from the article text

The Israeli army confirmed it struck the hospital and said it had targeted a senior Hamas official and other members of the group's armed wing. Israel accuses Hamas of using the hospital complex as a command centre. The articles do not report any independent verification of that claim.

Israel's response on aid

Israel's COGAT body said ahead of the heavy rains that it had stepped up work to improve sanitary conditions in Gaza, coordinating with international organisations. Israel also stated that claims that COGAT does not allow enough supplies into Gaza distract from what it calls Hamas's responsibility. These two positions frame the dispute, with the EU pressing Israel on access and Israel pointing to Hamas for conditions in the enclave. The articles do not describe any talks or timetable for reopening the crossings, so the outcome of the EU appeal remains open.