Arab and Islamic Foreign Ministers Warn of Gaza Humanitarian Catastrophe Amid Harsh Winter and Aid Restrictions

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The Foreign Ministers of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt have issued a joint call for urgent international intervention, expressing their "deepest concern" over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. In a unified statement, the ministers warned that the crisis has been drastically exacerbated by severe winter weather, including heavy rainfall and storms, which have devastated, flooded camps, and collapsed fragile shelters housing nearly 1.9 million displaced people. They emphasized that the combination of freezing temperatures, malnutrition, and a lack of essential life-saving supplies has significantly heightened the risk of disease outbreaks and death among the most vulnerable, particularly women, children, and the elderly.

The group of ministers strongly commended the work of UNRWA and other international NGOs, demanding that Israel ensure these agencies are granted sustained and unrestricted access to operate within Gaza and the West Bank. They characterized any attempt to impede humanitarian operations as unacceptable and urged the immediate lifting of constraints on the entry of tents, medical aid, clean water, and fuel. Stressing the need for an immediate scale-up of recovery efforts, the ministers called for the rehabilitation of hospitals and the urgent provision of durable housing to protect civilians from the harsh seasonal conditions.

Furthermore, the ministers reaffirmed their full support for UNSCR 2803 and President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan, signaling their intent to help implement the framework to secure a permanent ceasefire and end the war. They stressed that the plan provides a vital pathway toward a dignified life for the Palestinian people and a credible route to self-determination and statehood. Central to this effort, they called for the immediate and unhindered flow of aid and the reopening of the Rafah Crossing in both directions, as stipulated in the President’s plan, urging the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities to end the suffering in the region.