Italy allocates $5.5M in emergency aid for flood-hit displacement camps in Gaza - Anadolu Ajansı
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Wednesday that Italy has launched a new emergency initiative worth €5 million ($5 million) to provide immediate assistance to the Gaza Strip following severe flooding in displacement camps.
"Faced with the serious flooding that in recent days have hit the camps of the displaced" in Gaza, "further aggravating an already dramatic humanitarian situation, I have decided to activate through our Development Cooperation a new emergency initiative worth €5 million to bring immediate assistance to the population," Tajani said during question time in the Chamber.
Displaced Palestinian families have been left without shelter after heavy rain and strong winds flooded 70,000 tents in Gaza. Officials warned that damaged infrastructure and equipment shortages were overwhelming emergency efforts.
The storm, which began late Friday, also brought down dozens of walls, according to the Government Media Office. It estimated initial losses at about $3 million.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Thursday that 1.98 million people, about 94% of Gaza’s population, needed shelter and other essential supplies, citing surveys conducted in June. It said 58% faced critical or catastrophic shelter needs.
