The United Nations' Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on Wednesday, November 11, accused member states and partners of repeatedly delaying winter support for Gaza and said the delays were costing lives, as thousands of displaced Palestinians face freezing temperatures and storms in worn-out tents.
Source: UN News
"Foreign Ministers and partners have assured me of support, but also repeatedly said that progress would be hard until after Israeli elections. Now we're told to wait for the formation of a Government," Fletcher said, in a statement reported by UN News and by the German news agency DPA. Israel held elections on October 27, and a new government has not yet been formed.
Fletcher rejected that timetable outright. "In case anyone has any doubt about international humanitarian law: this is not an acceptable excuse, as the international community and Board of Peace have made clear," he said. In an X post the same day, quoted by the Associated Press, he wrote: "No more delays. We are now seeing the consequences of delays, blockages and funding cuts: lives lost, a population once again at great risk."
Open all Gaza crossings, not just one; let UN and NGO partners work; allow commercial markets to function; and fund the UN winter plan. "Stop this collective punishment. Fund the plan. End this predictable, preventable suffering," he said.
The UN relief chief said the organisation had a "clear plan" for the supplies Gaza needs "not in weeks, but weeks ago" — durable shelter, warm clothes, blankets, bedding and safe heating, plus generators, fuel, engine oil, spare parts and equipment to pump out water, remove debris and clear explosive ordnance. "What makes this even more infuriating is that they are at this needless risk from weather that is not a threat where decent shelter exists," he said.
Israel's side was stated the same day by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who denied that Israel was responsible for worsening conditions in Gaza's tent camps and blamed Hamas, saying the group refuses to disarm and seizes humanitarian aid for military use. The Associated Press noted Netanyahu provided no evidence for the aid-seizure statement. According to AP, the UN and aid groups say more than 150,000 tents and pumps to remove floodwater are ready to enter Gaza but Israel has not authorised their entry — a figure Israel has not confirmed in the reports cited here.
Fletcher's intervention followed Monday's statement by the US-created Board of Peace, which said Israel's delays in allowing winter supplies into Gaza had "exacerbated the consequences of a foreseeable humanitarian challenge," AP reported. Torrential rain has battered Gaza in recent days and damaged tens of thousands of makeshift tents, AP said.
This is the latest step in a winter emergency Awaaz Punjab has been reporting since last week, from the UN's warning that 2.1 million people need shelter help to the Board of Peace calling the flooding an immediate humanitarian emergency. Read: Board of Peace calls Gaza flooding an immediate humanitarian emergency
Jobs, alongside aid: 252,000 lost in Gaza
On the same day, the UN's labour agency, the ILO, called on international partners to increase support for a jobs-led recovery plan in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In Gaza alone, 252,000 jobs were lost between the third quarters of 2023 and 2025, unemployment reached 85.1 per cent and labour income losses totalled $2.77 billion — yaani about 2.77 billion dollars, roughly 277 crore dollars — with women and young people hit hardest, the ILO said. "Humanitarian assistance alone cannot restore livelihoods, essential services, or the institutional foundations needed for sustainable recovery," said Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov.
ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said: "Behind every job lost is a person, a family and a future placed at risk." The ILO's Decent Work and Recovery Programme says it has helped generate about 130,000 paid workdays over the past three years and contributed to social allowances reaching over 30,000 older persons and persons with disabilities.
What is solid
- Fletcher made the 'no more delay' statement on November 11 (UN News, DPA, AP all report it).
- The ILO figures — 252,000 Gaza jobs lost, 85.1% unemployment, $2.77 billion in lost labour income — are the UN labour agency's own published numbers.
- Netanyahu denied Israeli responsibility the same day (AP).
What is only claimed
- Why winter supplies are not entering at scale: the UN and Board of Peace blame Israeli delays and partner stalling; Netanyahu blames Hamas and says it seizes aid — AP noted no evidence was provided for that claim.
- The 150,000 tents-and-pumps figure is attributed to the UN and aid groups via AP; Israel has not confirmed it in these reports.
What happens next depends on decisions Fletcher says have already been postponed twice — first until after the October 27 Israeli elections, now until a government is formed — while winter storms continue to flood and collapse the tents thousands of families are living in. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if Israel, the Board of Peace or donor governments announce a change in crossings or funding.