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The Palestinian Civil Defence agency said it has received hundreds of distress calls from displaced people whose tents and shelters have been flooded by rainwater after heavy rain.
“Our crews can only evacuate citizens from their damaged shelters to other places that are mostly unsuitable to shelter, and they remain in the open – under the rain and bitter cold,” it said on Telegram, Al Jazeera reports.
“We appeal to people of conscience to rush to save these families and help them move to suitable shelters that protect them from rainwater,” it added.
The statement added that displaced people in the refugee camps in central Gaza City, al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, Rafah and western Deir el-Balah, in particular, need help.
UN agencies estimate that some 1.6 million people in Gaza are living in makeshift shelters that do not protect them from the cold of winter, with nearly half a million in flood-prone areas.
On Monday Reuters reported a baby had died in a tent amid freezing temperatures and heavy rain. His brother was being treated in intensive care.
The new Syrian government has reportedly appointed former foreign fighters to its armed forces, Reuters has reported.
The new figures include Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk as Damascus tries to shape a patchwork of rebel groups into a professional military, two Syrian sources told the news agency.
The move to give official roles, including senior ones, to jihadists may alarm some foreign governments and Syrian citizens fearful about the new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration’s intentions, despite its pledges not to export Islamic revolution and to rule with tolerance towards Syria’s large minority groups.
Syria’s new rulers, drawn mainly from HTS, have indicated that foreign fighters and their families may be given Syrian citizenship and be allowed to stay in the country because of their contributions to the fight against Assad.
A Syrian government spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment on the thinking behind the appointments.
The sources said that out of a total of almost 50 military roles announced by the Defence Ministry on Sunday, at least six had gone to foreigners.
Reuters and the Guardian have not been able to independently verify the nationalities of the individuals appointed.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the HTS-leader-turned de facto ruler of Syria, has purged dozens of foreign jihadi fighters as part of a campaign to Syrianise and moderate his group.
In remarks broadcast on Sunday, Sharaa said the new Syria “cannot be run by the mentality of groups and militias”
Israeli ambassador to the UN tells Houthis 'Israel will defend its people' after recent attacks
Israel has warned Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they face the same “miserable fate” as Hamas and Hezbollah if they continue with rocket attacks.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the Iran-backed group would be targeted by Israeli military after recent attacks by the Houthis on Israel.
Hours after the warning by Danon, Israel’s military said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, as air raid alarms were sounded.
The Houthis targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv and a power station south of Jerusalem using a hypersonic ballistic missile and a Zulfiqar ballistic missile, respectively, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.
Danon told the United Nations: “To the Houthis, perhaps you have not been paying attention to what has happened to the Middle East over the past year.
“Well, allow me to remind you what has happened to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Assad, to all those who have attempted to destroy us. Let this be your final warning. This is not a threat. It is a promise. You will share the same miserable fate,” Danon said.
Before the meeting, Danon told reporters: “Israel will defend its people. If 2,000 kilometres is not enough to separate our children from the terror, let me assure you, it will not be enough to protect their terror from our strengths.”
