Gaza tent attack leaves more than 800 people without shelter

Gaza’s Ministry of Housing has issued an official statement alleging that Israeli forces carried out airstrikes with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Shujaiya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.

Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the tents in the camp caught fire and were completely destroyed in the attack.

The ministry said the airstrikes displaced more than 200 families — over 800 Palestinians in total — leaving them without shelter. It added that most of those left homeless were children, women, older people and seriously ill patients.

The ministry said the attack was a clear example of the Israeli military’s policies of ethnic cleansing and violence in the area. It said civilians, many of whom had previously been forced to move repeatedly and had lost the basic household items they had obtained with limited means, were experiencing acute psychological distress and fear.

Gaza’s official authorities described the incident as part of a strategy to forcibly displace Palestinians from their land, calling it a war crime and a crime against humanity.

At the end of its statement, the ministry made an urgent appeal to international humanitarian aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, relevant United Nations bodies and donor countries. It called for emergency aid packages to be delivered to displaced families left without shelter in Shujaiya, new tents to be provided and alternative temporary accommodation to be established.

A ceasefire agreement was reached on October 10, 2025. Despite the agreement, military incidents and clashes have continued in different parts of the Gaza Strip.