At least 235,000 people in Gaza have been affected by a “man-made” crisis exacerbated by low-pressure weather systems hitting the war-ravaged enclave, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Monday.
"Months of war and displacement forced people in Gaza to live amid collapsing ruins in makeshift shelters or in flimsy tents," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X social media.
"While Storm Byron that struck Gaza on December 10 was a natural hazard, its consequences are man-made," Lazzarini stressed.
Heavy rains and strong winds triggered by low-pressure weather systems caused the collapse of 17 buildings and the full or partial damage of more than 42,000 tents or makeshift shelters and affected at least 235,000 people between Dec. 10 and 17, Lazzarini said, citing data by the Shelter Cluster in Gaza.
A new wave of weather depression has been battering Gaza since the weekend, causing the death of two people and the uprooting of tens of thousands of tents, according to the civil defense.
