The Cyprus Peace Council on Tuesday called on the Republic of Cyprus to do everything it can to support international relief efforts for Palestinians, saying torrential rain and flooding had hit makeshift camps for displaced people in the Gaza Strip.
The council said tens of thousands of tents had been flooded, destroyed or washed away, leaving families without basic shelter, and that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza were living in dire conditions.
Children, the elderly, the sick and people with disabilities were exposed to cold, damp and disease, with a lack of clean water, food and basic healthcare, it said. People who had lost their homes to Israeli bombing were now being displaced again.
The council said the natural disaster added to an existing humanitarian catastrophe, which it attributed to what it called ethnic cleansing, widespread destruction of infrastructure and severe restrictions on humanitarian access imposed by what it described as the occupying power.
It said the international community could not stand by while an entire population struggled every day to survive.
Joining calls by the United Nations, the European Union, governments and international humanitarian organisations, the council urged the urgent delivery of weatherproof tents, blankets and warm, dry clothing, along with food, especially baby food, drinking water, medicines and medical care. It also called for safe and dignified temporary shelter, particularly for children, the elderly and the sick.
The council also called for an end to the blockade of Gaza and for unhindered and safe humanitarian access across the Strip.
