UNICEF said Israel had rejected importing equipment needed to repair Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan stormwater basin and warned the facility could overflow, endangering residents through flooding and disease, The Straits Times reported, citing Reuters.

UNICEF’s James Elder told reporters in Geneva the agency had worked for a year with Israeli authorities and President Trump’s Board of Peace on a $3 million repair plan. COGAT rejected the project in the past few days, citing security grounds tied to dual-use rules.

“Toxic sewage could flow into the streets and tents of Gaza City, forcing children and families from their makeshift homes once more and grossly increasing the threat of disease. So we’re a bit baffled,” Elder said. “Let’s do the rehabilitation before this becomes another entirely preventable killer of girls and boys in Gaza.”

Heavy rain this week has already flooded tens of thousands of tents. Four people, including three small children, died when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents — a warning ahead of the rainy winter.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said nearly one million displaced people across Gaza now face medium or high flood risk, amid poor sanitation and weak health services.

COGAT did not immediately comment. A US-brokered 2025 ceasefire called for reconstruction, but little progress has been made while negotiators stall on Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal.

Image: Sewage near tents in Deir el-Balah, Gaza (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).

Sources consulted: UNICEF says Israel blocking Gaza basin repairs, warns of flood risk — The Straits Times.