{"text":[[{"start":9.28,"text":"Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has warned that seasonal flooding in Gaza has created an “immediate humanitarian emergency”, which was being exacerbated by Israel allowing insufficient aid into the war-battered Palestinian territory."}],[{"start":23.02,"text":"The board’s statement, posted on X on Monday, marked an unusual rebuke of Israel’s far-right government from an organisation chaired by Trump, who has described himself as the “most pro-Israel” US president in history."}],[{"start":36.06,"text":"The main mission of the board is meant to be the redevelopment of Gaza following Israel’s ferocious military offensive in the territory in response to Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack, but critics say the organisation has largely hewed to Israeli interests."}],[{"start":51.24,"text":"The board said on Monday it was “deeply concerned” that days of flooding as Gaza heads into winter had swamped “tens of thousands of tents and makeshift shelters” and left “displaced families, who were already living in precarious conditions, exposed to cold and unsafe conditions”."}],[{"start":67.9,"text":"Seasonal flooding and disease have been common in Gaza amid Israel’s long-running blockade, and the board said it had warned “for months . . . of the very conditions now unfolding”."}],[{"start":77.56,"text":"It also said it had repeatedly pressed Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to fulfil their commitments under Trump’s peace plan for Gaza that was unveiled last year."}],[{"start":107.48,"text":"The board said: “We have specifically urged the Israeli government to authorise the entry of essential materials for temporary shelter, water and sanitation infrastructure, waste management, drainage and sewage removal.” It added Israel’s aid response had been “insufficient”."}],[{"start":106.39,"text":"Hamas had been pressed to lay down its weapons and relinquish government authority in Gaza, the board said. Israel runs about 60 per cent of the enclave, with Hamas controlling the remainder, where nearly all of the population resides."}],[{"start":116.08,"text":"Save the Children, an international aid group, said on Monday that about 350,000 Palestinians — the majority of them children — had been living in tents that flooded, and that more than 2,000 damaged buildings were “at risk of collapse amid continued rainfall and strong winds”."}],[{"start":131.48,"text":"Children were being exposed “to hypothermia and waterborne diseases” as a result of the “man-made” disaster, the group added."}],[{"start":138.56,"text":"The UN estimates that about 1.4mn people in Gaza — 65 per cent of the population — live in tents or makeshift shelters."}],[{"start":147.34,"text":"Trump was widely hailed last year for negotiating a Gaza peace deal that yielded the release of all the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas after its October 7 attack on Israel."}],[{"start":158.12,"text":"The deal significantly reduced the scale of the fighting in Gaza after heavy Israeli bombardment."}],[{"start":164.08,"text":"But fulfilment of other aspects of Trump’s plan — including the establishment of a Gaza peacekeeping force, a new government in the territory, the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and reconstruction — has stalled."}],[{"start":177.14,"text":"The Board of Peace, which was set up in January, has so far failed to oversee a recovery in Gaza."}],[{"start":182.92,"text":"And the board attracted the scrutiny of US lawmakers after the FT reported in May that its financial fund set up by the World Bank had received no money from donors, despite $17bn being initially pledged for Gaza relief."}],[{"start":197.08,"text":"Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, in June raised concerns about “the board’s apparent lack of accountability, standards and sound legal standing” in a letter to US secretary of state Marco Rubio."}],[{"start":210.12,"text":"The state department in congressional briefings had been “unable to provide answers to basic questions” about how the board was managed, who it employed, and whether funds collected for it “could be used to compensate president Trump while he is president or after his term ends”, Shaheen wrote."}],[{"start":226.6,"text":"Additional reporting by Andrew England in London"}],[{"start":233.88,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1794280680_1019.mp3"}