Palestinians Appeal for Help with Short-term Shelter in Gaza

Palestinians transport aid supplies on an animal-drawn cart, amid a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians transport aid supplies on an animal-drawn cart, amid a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Palestinians Appeal for Help with Short-term Shelter in Gaza

Palestinians transport aid supplies on an animal-drawn cart, amid a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians transport aid supplies on an animal-drawn cart, amid a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

With fighting in Gaza paused, Palestinians are appealing for billions of dollars in emergency aid - from heavy machinery to clear rubble to tents and caravans to house people made homeless by Israeli bombardment.

One official from the Palestinian Authority estimated immediate funding needs of $6.5 billion for temporary housing for Gaza's more than two million people, even before the huge task of long-term reconstruction begins.

US special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff estimated last week that rebuilding could take 10-15 years. But before that, Gazans will have to live somewhere, Reuters reported.

Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that has moved quickly to reassert control of Gaza after a temporary ceasefire began last month, says Gaza has immediate needs for 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans.

In the Egyptian city of El-Arish, not far from the Rafah crossing with Gaza, about 1,000 trucks carrying aid, including food, medical supplies, caravans and tents, lined up awaiting entry to Gaza.

"We have trucks carrying aid and tents. We came from Jordan and we were supposed to go straight to the Rafah crossing to provide this aid to the Palestinian side and the Gaza Strip," said truck driver Rami El-Edwan.

Edwan said he and his fellow truck drivers could not figure out the delay's cause, having had conflicting explanations from the various parties operating the crossing and delivering aid.

In addition, it says there is urgent need for heavy digging equipment to begin clearing millions of tonnes of rubble left by the war, both to clear ground for housing and to recover more than 10,000 bodies estimated to be buried there.

Two Egyptian sources said heavy machinery was waiting at the border crossing and was due to be sent into Gaza from Tuesday.

World Food Program official Antoine Renard said Gaza's food imports had surged since the ceasefire and were already at two or three times monthly levels before the truce began.

'DUAL USE' GOODS FACE IMPEDIMENTS

But he said there were still impediments to importing medical and shelter equipment which would be vital to sustain the population but which Israel considers to have potential "dual use" – civilian or military.

"This is a reminder to you that many of the items that are dual use need also to enter into Gaza like medical and also tents," he told reporters in Geneva.

More than half a million people who fled northern Gaza have returned home, many with nothing more than what they could carry with them on foot. They were confronted by an unrecognizable wasteland of rubble where their houses once stood.

"I came back to Gaza City to find my house in ruins, with no place else to stay, no tents, no caravans, and not even a place we can rent as most of the city was destroyed," said Gaza businessman, Imad Turk, whose house and wood factory in Gaza City were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes during the war.

"We don't know when the reconstruction will begin, we don't know if the truce will hold, we don't want to be forgotten by the world," Turk told Reuters via a chat app.



UNIFIL Demands Lebanon, Israel to Authorize New Surveillance Technologies

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
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UNIFIL Demands Lebanon, Israel to Authorize New Surveillance Technologies

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 

UN Security Council members on Monday inquired about the request of UNIFIL to possess new technologies that would guarantee the mission’s freedom of movement and access throughout its area of operations along the Blue Line in the south of Lebanon.

In closed consultations held on Monday, the UN Council members received a briefing on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on the implementation of resolution 1701, which was circulated to Council members on 11 March.

The report urged prioritizing UNIFIL’s monitoring and verifying mechanisms, and enhancing tactical response in implementation of the resolution.

Adopted in 2006, Resolution 1701 called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

At the session on Monday, Council members listened to briefings by Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on developments in UNIFIL area of operations from south of the Litani River to the Blue Line in accordance with the Taif Accord and Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1701 and 1680.

The resolutions stipulate the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and the full control of territories by the Lebanese government.

 

In his 35-page report, the Secretary-General welcomed the “continued holding of the cessation of hostilities...despite challenges.”

The report registered progress towards the objective outlined in the cessation of hostilities arrangement of the withdrawal of the Israeli army south of the Blue Line and the deployment of the Lebanese armed forces.

It notes, however, that the “situation remains fragile” and that the Israeli army has “not yet completely withdrawn from Lebanese territory, remaining at five locations, and designating two areas as so called ‘buffer zones’ along the Blue Line.”

The Secretary-General also noted that the Lebanese Army has started to dismantle military infrastructure and confiscate weapons “believed to have belonged to Hezbollah south of the Litani River.”

Israel’s Withdrawal

In his report, Guterres urged parties to effectively implement their side of the cessation of hostilities arrangement and resolution 1701.

He notes that the Israeli army’s presence north of the Blue Line is a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as of resolution 1701, and undermines the efforts of the Lebanese authorities to extend state authority throughout its territory.

The UN Chief also rejected the continued occupation of the northern part of the town of Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the Blue Line, condemning “all violations of Lebanese sovereignty.”

Aoun and Salam’s Efforts

Guterres welcomed recent political developments in Lebanon, such as the election of President Joseph Aoun on January 9, the designation on 13 January of Nawaf Salam as prime minister and the formation of the government on 8 February.

The Secretary-General spoke about the dramatic human impact and the utter level of destruction caused by the recent conflict in Lebanon, calling on donors to fully fund the 2025 Lebanon Response Plan and the Emergency Appeal.

Guterres expressed “optimism about Aoun’s pledge to take control of all arms outside state authority and fully implement the ceasefire deal with Israel.”

He called on the Lebanese Government to “facilitate the full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Agreement and resolutions 1559, 1701 and 1680.