HUMANITARIANS WARN OF FIRE THREAT TO DISPLACED GAZA FAMILIES IN TEMPORARY SHELTERS: UN

NEW YORK, Feb 21 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians on Friday warned of a severe threat to the Gaza Strip displaced families from open fires used for cooking in dangerously overcrowded temporary shelters, reported Xinhua.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said families cook, sleep and store their belongings in small spaces, a practice that poses not only a fire risk to the community but also a threat to residents’ health.

"Since November 2025, our partners have recorded at least 12 fires in these shelters," said OCHA. "In the ten days leading up to Feb 17, humanitarians provided shelter assistance to 85 families in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, whose shelters were damaged by a fire in Gaza city."

“Displaced families need adequate shelter to protect them from the elements and provide greater privacy,” the office said. “Humanitarian partners have reiterated the urgent need to move towards more sustainable solutions.”

Humanitarians have long been calling on Israel to allow more and more durable shelter supplies into the Strip.

The office said that in many areas of Gaza, humanitarian movements still require coordination with Israeli authorities. Of 67 movements coordinated between Feb 12 and 19, 43 were approved, nine were denied outright, and eight were approved but faced impediments, of which six were fully completed.

In the West Bank, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that continued violence and other coercive practices by Israeli forces and settler communities have resulted in casualties, property destruction and displacement.

The office said that between Feb 3 and 16, Israeli forces in the West Bank killed three Palestinians, bringing the total number this year to nine, including two children.

“During the same period, at least 86 Israeli settler attacks were recorded, injuring more than 60 Palestinians and displacing around 146 people,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

The office said that since January 2023, and as of Feb 16, 880 Palestinian families — over 4,700 people — have been displaced across the West Bank due to settler attacks and access restrictions.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA