Gaza: Europe and the Arabs

For the second day in a row, tents housing displaced people in various parts of the Gaza Strip were flooded due to heavy rainfall. Families issued distress calls for rescue after their tents were inundated.

While families are demanding mobile homes to protect them from the winter cold, municipalities and civil defense authorities are warning of escalating risks, given limited resources and the continued rainfall. This was reported by the European news network Euronews in Brussels on Thursday.

According to government data, the Gaza Strip needs approximately 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to provide even a minimum level of shelter after two years of war.

UNRWA stated that the rainfall in the Gaza Strip is bringing new hardships and exacerbating the already dire living conditions, making them even more precarious.

The Civil Defense in Gaza warned of a worsening humanitarian situation if the new weather system continues and there are no temporary shelters available for the displaced. Politically, US President Donald Trump stated that he expects to announce early next year the names of world leaders who will participate in the Gaza peace council.

In the West Bank, the Israeli army arrested two foreign activists from within the Abu Hamam family compound in the Khala'il area of ​​Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah.

The US State Department said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed regional security and the implementation of President Trump's plan for Gaza with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa'ar.

US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, announced that he visited the Kerem Shalom crossing with Egypt to observe the passage of aid. The ambassador confirmed that more than 600 trucks carrying food and medicine are now entering Gaza daily through the crossing.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that Gaza remains a place of unimaginable suffering, loss, and fear, noting that "although the bloodshed has decreased, it has not stopped." According to the UN Daily News Bulletin

At his press conference on Human Rights Day, Turk reiterated the ongoing Israeli attacks, including those targeting individuals approaching the so-called "yellow line," residential buildings, tents and shelters for displaced persons, as well as other civilian targets.

He rejected the Israeli military's claims that the "yellow line"—concrete blocks erected by the army inside the Gaza Strip—constitutes a new border.

He stated that Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025) "is very clear about not designating anything as a border or anything else; it is about territory that must be respected in its entirety," referring to the resolution adopted by the Council on November 17 to support a comprehensive plan to end the conflict.

The UN official called on all parties to respect the ceasefire and ensure the possibility of moving to the next phase of the peace plan. The Most Serious Mental Health Crisis

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that most of the violence last week was concentrated near the so-called "Yellow Line," leading to new waves of displacement.

In its latest update, UNRWA quoted health authorities in Gaza as saying that 360 Palestinians have been killed and 922 others injured since the fragile ceasefire agreement came into effect at the beginning of October.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights said his office had documented more than 350 attacks since the ceasefire began.

In addition to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Turk stressed that the widespread psychological trauma suffered by the population of the Strip constitutes "the most serious mental health crisis imaginable. Almost everyone is traumatized, especially children."

At the same time, the UN official expressed grave concern about the unprecedented levels of attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians and their land in the occupied West Bank. He said: "This is a time to intensify pressure and advocacy, not to give in to complacency with the status quo."