Gaza: Al-Hayya calls for 'urgent action' to confront the worsening disaster as winter approaches

Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas's political bureau, called on Arab and Islamic countries to take urgent action to provide shelter, heating, and fuel for the displaced in Gaza, and to compel Israel to fulfill its humanitarian obligations, as over 200,000 Palestinians have been affected by recent rains and floods.

Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas's political bureau, on Saturday called on Arab and Islamic countries to take urgent action to confront the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as winter approaches. The call came in a Hamas statement titled 'Al-Hayya sends messages to Arab and Islamic countries for urgent action to confront the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,' following the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Strip with the onset of winter. The statement indicated that al-Hayya sent messages calling for urgent action to confront the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, amid the ongoing siege, starvation policies, deprivation of shelter and basic services, and the worsening suffering of the population as winter sets in. It added that al-Hayya briefed Arab and Islamic countries on the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the Strip, stressing that what Gaza is witnessing is no longer just an emergency relief crisis or natural consequences of war, but a complex reality in which policies of starvation and systematic destruction of life's essentials, and the deliberate restriction of entry of aid and materials needed for recovery, are intertwined. Al-Hayya stressed the need to work to compel the occupation to fully implement the ceasefire agreement, including a complete withdrawal from the Strip, and the immediate implementation of the humanitarian protocol signed in Sharm el-Sheikh. The statement concluded by emphasizing the empowerment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to enter the Strip and begin its tasks, and ensuring the access of UN institutions.