Egyptian Red Crescent Prepares Camp to House 5000 Gazans

The Egyptian Red Crescent completed the first phase of a camp for Palestinians in the town of Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, which could accommodate up to 5,000 people.

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"We aim to reach 1,000 tents. Once they are fully equipped, families will be welcomed immediately," said Khaled Zayed, the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in northern Sinai.

This camp is being set up according to the guidelines of the Egyptian authorities to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and host thousands of Palestinians who have been forced to leave their homes in northern Gaza due to Israeli bombings.

The completed first phase consists of 300 tents that can accommodate up to 1,500 people. Each tent can house 5 or 6 people, in addition to almost 80 public toilets equipped with all sanitary services.

This camp is being built alongside the Palestinian Red Crescent, Zayed said, mentioning that technicians and engineers from both branches of the organization are working on the ground.

The current entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave is not the same as during the one-week ceasefire that ended a month ago, during which about 240 trucks entered daily. However, the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing in mid-December has improved daily inflows.

"After the ceasefire, we returned to 80 to 100 trucks, and now with the opening of Kerem Shalom, the number increased to 150 trucks daily," Zayed asserted and complained about the "rejection by Israel" of products such as anesthetic materials for hospitals or butane cylinders.

"These materials return to our warehouses, but we prepare lists of the rejected materials and send them to the Israeli side. With UN coordination, we try to introduce them," he said.

Since the war began, humanitarian aid for the enclave has been trickling in, mainly through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. However, in December, Israel also allowed some trucks to enter through Kerem Shalom, a goods crossing between Gaza and Israeli territory.

The Israeli offensive has also left around 1.9 million displaced people in Gaza, 85 percent of the strip's population, living amidst a humanitarian crisis due to hospital collapses, epidemic outbreaks, and shortages of clean water, food, medicines, electricity, and fuel.