UK urged to sanction Israeli officials over Gaza aid siege

The UK government should impose sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, a British advocacy group has urged, as deadly winter storms leave hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians exposed to flooding, disease and collapsing shelters.

The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu) called on London to take immediate action to ensure unrestricted humanitarian access, warning that nearly one million displaced Palestinians face serious flooding risks because of Israeli restrictions on essential supplies.

The appeal follows the deaths of four Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and three children, when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents sheltering displaced families in Deir al-Balah on Sunday.

Others were injured, while two people were reported missing, according to Gaza's Government Media Office.

In a statement shared with The New Arab on Monday, Caabu described the crisis as "one of the direst humanitarian consequences of man-made and political devastation and failure", accusing Israel of routinely blocking life-saving aid, including tents needed to protect families from winter rains.

The collapse came as heavy rainfall flooded tens of thousands of tents across Gaza, where around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are living in makeshift shelters, unable to withstand severe weather.

Gaza's Government Media Office said more than 70,000 tents were flooded within 12 hours of the storm's arrival.

Civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told The New Arab that emergency crews had received more than 1,500 distress calls during the first 10 hours of the storm, warning that Gaza's devastated infrastructure and shortage of rescue equipment were hampering emergency responses.

He said tens of thousands of families urgently needed to be relocated from dangerous areas, particularly those sheltering inside or near damaged buildings. Around 2,000 buildings were at risk of imminent collapse, he warned.

Displaced Palestinians now fear further deaths as winter conditions worsen.

Ismail Sobeih, 43, who lives with his family of seven in a tent near the Yellow Line, which separates Israeli-controlled territory from the rest of the Gaza Strip, told The New Arab that every rainfall brought renewed anxiety.

"I feel deeply saddened that I am risking my family's lives inside a flimsy tent that cannot protect them from shells and stray bullets fired by Israeli military vehicles along the Yellow Line, or from rain, floods and extreme heat," he said.

Hafez Abu Saada, 36, who lives with his family of five in southern Deir al-Balah, said the collapse had heightened fears among displaced families already struggling with inadequate shelter.

"We did not choose to live in tents that cannot protect our children from the summer heat or the risk of death in winter," he told The New Arab.

UK urged to use sanctions powers

Caabu cited figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showing that Gaza needed 121,000 tents, while only 2,800 were available inside the territory.

Another 150,000 tents were waiting at Gaza's borders but had not been permitted to enter, the organisation said.

"Warnings have been consistently made about the consequences of flooding, disease, and the risk of starvation, and yet we still find ourselves in a situation where Israel continues to block life-saving aid to Palestinians," Caabu said.

The organisation also highlighted Israeli restrictions on building materials and humanitarian organisations, saying 37 international NGOs had had their licences revoked since January 2026.

It urged the UK to use its Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026 against Israeli ministers and officials responsible for obstructing aid.

"The UK government must not wait for a new Israeli government to be formed to take proper and appropriate action, including sanctions for those who are in clear breach of international law," the statement said.

Caabu's head of parliamentary affairs, Joseph Willits, described the shortage of basic shelter as a "man-made and political scarcity".

"Neither the rain nor disease, waits for the formation of a new Israeli government, or for the international community (including the UK) to wait and see how the land lies," he said.

He called for unhindered aid access and sanctions against those responsible, warning: "A lack of political action isn't something a Palestinian family trying to shelter from Gaza's floods, can afford."