Gaza winter floods, aid shortfalls prompt Hamilton visit, Danish pledge and shelter appeals

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton said on Wednesday that Israel must allow aid trucks into Gaza, a day after he toured the Rafah border crossing in Egypt, as winter storms flooded tent camps and Denmark pledged $8.9m in aid. Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, arrived in El Arish on Tuesday and visited the Egyptian Red Crescent's aid warehouses. He said he saw food trucks lined up at the border that were regularly held up or delayed. A ceasefire reached last year halted major combat, but aid still falls far short of the agreed minimum of 600 trucks a day. Storms have brought flooding and deadly landslides to thousands of people living in tents in Gaza, and aid groups have called on Israel to allow shelters. Denmark's Foreign Ministry announced 20 million kroner ($3m) for the UN agency Unrwa for people hit by the weather, and 40 million kroner ($6m) for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund. Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said aid must reach the affected population during winter.

Left-leaning outlets split their focus. The Guardian leads with Hamilton, putting his Instagram description of Israel's conduct as genocide in its headline. It adds Israel's denial, its statement that it targets Hamas, and the truck shortfall. NPR instead centers the weather and the aid groups' call for shelters, noting that Palestinians have nowhere to go after years of war. The alternative outlet Middle East Eye takes a separate, government-funding angle, reporting Denmark's kroner-to-dollar figures and Rasmussen's remarks, and mentions rain flooding displacement camps. Left and alternative coverage agree on the flooding and the need for more aid. They differ in who they feature: a celebrity, aid groups or a foreign government. Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and alternative outlets had.