Board of Peace Gaza floods: Israel told to act now

The Board of Peace Gaza floods warning came on Monday, November 9, 2026, as United States President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace called on Israel to move at once to help war-battered Gaza face the coming winter, after heavy rain flooded tens of thousands of tents. The board said what Israel had done ahead of the deadly floods fell short.

“The situation no longer represents simply a threat posed by the approaching winter, but an immediate humanitarian emergency,” the Board of Peace said in a statement.

Two days of heavy rain have swept away tens of thousands of tents across the territory, where nearly everyone has been displaced at least once. Gaza’s authorities say at least five people have died, among them a woman and three children killed when a sand embankment gave way onto tents south of Deir al-Balah on Sunday night.

Board of Peace Gaza floods warning follows months of alerts

The board oversees the October 2025 US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It said it had long been pressing Israel, which controls everything entering the territory, to get ready for winter and for the seasonal floods.

Just before the statement, the Israeli military said it had let in more than 8,200 trucks carrying supplies, among them 91,000 tents. The board noted those steps but said they were still “insufficient”.

“We call on the leadership of the current Government of Israel to act immediately to authorise and facilitate the entry of all necessary winterisation and humanitarian supplies,” the board said.

The board said it had pressed Israel again and again to let in shelter, water, sanitation, drainage and sewage supplies and to keep its word under the Sharm el-Sheikh Humanitarian Protocol. It said hold-ups in approvals had deepened a crisis that could have been foreseen.

“The time for assurances without implementation has passed,” the board said in its statement.

Hamas also told to meet its commitments

Israel, meanwhile, has blamed Hamas for the flooding, saying the group should have put money into infrastructure rather than weapons. “Hamas doesn’t get to escape responsibility every time it rains,” the Israeli foreign ministry posted on Sunday on X.

The board also pressed Hamas to keep its side of the ceasefire. It said the hold-up in aid arrangements was tied to the wider peace plan, with weapons decommissioning and the handover of governing authority from Hamas to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza both stalled.

At the same time, the board demanded that Hamas disarm and give up control of Gaza. Even so, Israel has continued striking Gaza almost every day despite the truce.

Hamas reported that at least 70,000 tents had been flooded, while the United Nations said aid groups had received requests for help from more than 26,000 households whose shelters or belongings were damaged.

What the floods mean for Gaza this winter

The board said conditions in Gaza had got better over the past year, most of all for food and nutrition, but warned the flooding could wipe out those gains. Shelter, sanitation and drainage were now urgent, it said.

The warning comes as Pakistan steps up its own response to the crisis. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the foreign ministry to urgently escalate humanitarian assistance for rain-hit Gaza, saying he is deeply concerned at what he called Israel’s illegal actions to deny aid to Palestinians. The prime minister’s move followed the same heavy rain that has now drawn the Board of Peace into public criticism of Israel.

The statement is striking because it comes from a body created by Trump himself to oversee the ceasefire. It amounts to a public rebuke of Israel, a close US ally, for moving too slowly on aid, while also pressing Hamas to disarm and hand over power.

The war before the ceasefire killed more than 74,000 Palestinians. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and experts have described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide”, which Tel Aviv rejects. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to kill everyone involved in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest day in Israel’s history.

The region remains tense on other fronts too, from deportations in the West Bank to the US strike on Iran’s Qeshm Island.

For Gaza’s displaced families, the next days matter most. Winter supplies, tents and drainage will decide whether the floods stay a crisis or turn into a wider disaster. Pakistan has also condemned the targeting of the Aramco building in Riyadh.

Frequently asked questions

What did the Board of Peace say about Gaza?

It urged Israel to move at once to help Gaza through the winter, calling the flooding an immediate humanitarian emergency and the action so far not enough.

How bad are the floods in Gaza?

Two days of rain swept away tens of thousands of tents. Hamas put the flooded tents at 70,000 or more, and the UN said over 26,000 households had asked for help after their shelters or belongings were damaged.

How many people have been killed by the floods?

At least five people have been killed, according to authorities in Gaza. A woman and three children died when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents south of Deir al-Balah.

What is the Board of Peace?

It is the body set up under President Donald Trump to oversee the October 2025 US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, including humanitarian arrangements and the transfer of governing authority in Gaza.

What is Pakistan doing for Gaza?

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the foreign ministry to urgently escalate humanitarian assistance for rain-hit Gaza, saying he is deeply concerned at Israel’s actions to deny aid to Palestinians.