By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

More than 150,000 tents await Israeli permission to enter Gaza, the UN said, as flooding worsens the territory’s sanitation crisis.

Key Developments

• The UN says it is ready to bring the tents in once Israel grants permission.
• UN aid chief Tom Fletcher says Israeli coalition talks are no excuse for delaying winter supplies.
• No wastewater treatment plant in Gaza is operational, the UN says.

More than 150,000 tents purchased by humanitarian organizations and UN member states are waiting outside Gaza for Israeli permission to enter, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said Wednesday.

The supplies include 117,000 tents held by the Egyptian Relief Committee in El Arish.

Haq said transport funding can be an obstacle to aid deliveries, but Israeli authorization was what was holding up these tents.

“They’re just on the other side, and we’re ready to bring them in as soon as we get the permissions,” Anadolu quoted Haq as saying.

How quickly the tents reach displaced Palestinians will depend on access to the crossings and how long entry procedures take, Haq said.

BM Genel Sekreter Sözcü Yardımcısı Farhan Haq, günlük basın toplantısında AA Muhabiri İslam Doğru'nun sorularını yanıtladı ⤵️

📌 (Gazze'deki insani kriz ve İsrail'in yardımlara izin vermemesi)

— İsrailli yetkililerden ihtiyaç duyduğumuz izinleri alabilmek için çalışmaya devam… pic.twitter.com/VwMxMYk09w

— Anadolu Ajansı (@anadoluajansi) November 11, 2026

‘No More Delay’

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Wednesday that waiting for Israel to form a government was “not an acceptable excuse” for delaying essential winter supplies, Anadolu reported.

Fletcher said foreign ministers and other partners had assured him of their support but repeatedly told him that progress would be difficult until after Israel’s elections.

They were now telling him to wait until a government was formed, he said.

The UN plan calls for durable shelter, warm clothing, blankets and safe heating, along with fuel, generators and equipment to pump out floodwater and clear debris.

“No more delay. Open all the crossings, not just one,” Anadolu quoted Fletcher as saying.

He also called for humanitarian organizations to be allowed to work, commercial markets to function and funding for the winter response.

No more delays. No more excuses. We must open all the crossings, mobilize the whole humanitarian community, and get our full Winter plan delivered for Gaza. https://t.co/MBHULQdSiI pic.twitter.com/pUGvbizZVZ

— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) November 11, 2026

Sewage Threat Mounts

As the tents wait outside Gaza, weekend flooding has worsened a sanitation crisis in a territory where no wastewater treatment plant is currently operational, Haq said, citing UNICEF.

In Gaza City, rainwater mixed with sewage threatens to overflow from the Sheikh Radwan stormwater basin. Only two of its six pumps are working.

UNICEF has sought Israeli approval for more than a year to bring in equipment needed to repair the facility, Haq said.

He called for urgent funding and Israeli authorization to bring in machinery and supplies.

Since October 2023, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 74,600 Palestinians and wounded nearly 176,000, according to the latest numbers provided by Gaza’s health authorities. 90 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure had been destroyed.

“They’re just filming and then they go, and that’s it.”

A boy in Gaza says this straight into the camera. I keep coming back to that word: they. How sure are we that he means someone else?

The Moral Line w/ @RamzyBaroud pic.twitter.com/HwxqFEt7Va

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 10, 2026

(PC, Anadolu, UN, UNICEF)