By Oren Liebermann, CNN
(CNN) — US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace urged Israel to allow essential aid into Gaza, after calling its response to massive weekend flooding across the shattered enclave “insufficient.”
Seasonal rains swamped tens of thousands of tents across Gaza, where nearly 2 million Palestinians are displaced, according to the United Nations.
“The urgent entry and distribution of essential shelter, sanitation, drainage, and other winterization supplies is critical to protecting civilian lives,” the Board of Peace said in a statement Monday.
Created by the Trump administration and backed by a UN Security Council resolution, the organization was supposed to oversee implementation of a Gaza ceasefire signed a year ago, and the reconstruction of the enclave, but the effort has stalled for months.
The Board of Peace called on Israel to “authorize the entry of essential materials for temporary shelter, water and sanitation infrastructure, waste management, drainage, and sewage removal.” Much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed in Israel’s bombardment of the territory during three years of war.
Since the nominal ceasefire went into effect in October 2025, Israel’s near-daily strikes have killed more than 1,400 people in Gaza, according to the UN, and no hospitals in the enclave are fully functioning.
Philippe Lazzarini, the former head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), described the board’s assessment of the Israeli response to the floods as an “understatement.” Lazzarini noted its “rare recognition” that Israel is not doing enough to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, then slammed the board – which largely avoids harsh criticism of the Israeli government – saying “it does not use any of its leverage to address the disgraceful dystopian misery of the Palestinians in Gaza.”
On Sunday evening, a sand embankment in Deir al-Balah collapsed on the tents of displaced Palestinians after heavy rains, killing three children and one woman, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who led a multinational effort to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, warned, “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is getting worse. Heavy rain. Flooded tents. The reality on the ground is heartbreaking.”
“The UK government will not standby. We will not rest until we bring an end to the intolerable suffering,” he said in a statement on X.
On Sunday, Israel said that more than 91,000 tents had entered Gaza ahead of winter, but it will not allow in the heavy equipment required for large-scale cleanup and rubble removal efforts.
“The reconstruction of Gaza can only begin after Hamas fully disarms,” said Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which oversees Gaza. “Israel will not permit the entry of equipment that could be used to develop terrorist capabilities.”
The-CNN-Wire
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