Sky News has seen multiple warehouses in the Jordanian capital Amman, packed full of critical aid earmarked for the Gaza Strip.

There are three other similar locations in the country and run by the Jordanian authorities holding aid intended for Gaza.

There are also large amounts of aid being stored separately by the United Nations in Jordan.

Both the Jordanian authorities and the UN say the majority of aid collected has been sitting in Jordan since March, with only a negligible amount of aid being allowed into Gaza because of Israeli restrictions on aid going into the Strip.

The news comes as tens of thousands of families living in tents in Gaza have been affected by flooding following heavy rains across the region.

The stored aid is equivalent to thousands of trucks’ worth of aid – in Jordan alone.

And the United Nations says there’s even more aid being held back in Egypt too – in total, enough aid to provide food for the entire Gaza population for about three months, according to the deputy commissioner general for UNRWA, Natalie Boucly, who was interviewed by The Guardian.

Sky’s special correspondent Alex Crawford, who is in Amman, said: “The aid in Jordan alone includes critical supplies such as tents and tarpaulins as well as blankets, mattresses, medicines like paracetamol as well as baby formula… all being stored here and held back, according to the UN here in Jordan and the Jordanian authorities, all being refused entry by the Israelis.”

What has UNICEF said?

The UN aid agency for children has called on Israel to allow all of its supplies into Gaza.

Writing on X, UNICEF said it had already distributed more than 5,000 tents, 220,000 tarps and 29,000 winter clothes kits.

The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, has said it is allowing in winter materials including blankets and tarps, which are water-resistant sheets made of canvas or plastic used for protection from the elements.

But aid organisations have warned the efforts are completely inadequate and vastly outnumbered by those in need – an estimated 1.4 million people are classified as vulnerable by aid agencies.

In contrast, on X, COGAT said it had “facilitated close to 140,000 tarpaulins directly to the residents of the Gaza Strip” and had spent the past few months coordinating with the international community.

It went on: “We call on international organisations to coordinate more tents and tarpaulins and other winter humanitarian responses.”

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But the UN insists Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law and has the responsibility as the occupying force to ensure the safe distribution and coordination of life-saving aid.

What does the Israeli military say?

An Israeli military official told Sky News that aid was stopped from Jordan after the main border crossing with Israel was closed following an attack there in September, which saw a Jordanian truck driver kill two Israeli soldiers.

Although both Jordanian officials and UN figures in the country say hardly any aid – a “negligible” amount – was allowed into Gaza from Jordan many months before this, dating back to March.

The Israeli military official said the crossing will not be opened until an investigation is concluded into the incident. They pointed out that there are other routes for aid to enter Gaza along the Egypt border, and hundreds of trucks enter the strip every day under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.

However, the UN and multiple aid organisations say this is a fraction of what is required to meet the huge need inside Gaza and there are thousands of trucks’ worth of aid also piled up and waiting to be allowed over from Egypt too.

Meanwhile, in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp in Gaza, winter’s first strong rainfall sent water cascading through the flimsy tents, which are now homes to tens of thousands of displaced families.

Residents tried to dig trenches to keep the water from flooding their tents, as intermittent rains that began on Friday poured through tears in tarpaulins and makeshift shelters.

‘Water puddles are inches high’

Assil Naggar said he “spent all (Friday) pushing water out of my tent”, adding his neighbours’ tents and belongings were wrecked.

“Water puddles are inches high, and there is no proper drainage,” he continued.

The UN said Muwasi was sheltering up to 425,000 displaced Palestinians earlier this year, the vast majority in makeshift temporary tents, after Israel’s war with Hamas displaced most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people.

The bulk of Gaza’s infrastructure is estimated to have been destroyed or badly damaged during the Israeli bombardment.

What’s the latest with the ceasefire?

The first stage of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on 10 October, is now nearing its end with Israeli forces pulling back to a ‘yellow line’ and Hamas releasing all living Israeli captives who were held in Gaza.

Hamas has yet to return the remains of three more hostages, which Israel is demanding before progressing to the second stage, which includes an international stabilisation force to oversee security in Gaza.

On Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a US proposal for a UN mandate for such a force despite opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries.

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza has gone on for more than two years, killing nearly 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s ministry of health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli military campaign came in response to attacks inside southern Israel by Hamas militants on October 7 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage.

Three men and two women died in a road crash involving two cars in Co Louth on Saturday night, Irish police said.

The collision happened on the L3168 in Gibstown, Dundalk, shortly after 9pm.

Police said the five victims were all aged in their 20s and had been in the same vehicle, a Volkswagen Golf.

They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Another man, also in his 20s, was “removed” from the car and taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where he was treated for “serious non-life-threatening injuries”, said Superintendent Charlie Armstrong.

The Golf was in a collision with a Toyota Land Cruiser.

A man and a woman in the second vehicle were also taken to the same hospital.

Their injuries are described as “non-life-threatening”.

‘A shocking, devastating event’

Superintendent Armstrong said an investigation into the road crash was under way, as he praised the emergency services.

He said: “The scene was very difficult, in adverse weather conditions, and the professionalism shown by all first responders and the care and respect shown to the five deceased was exemplary.

“This tragedy, with the loss of five young adults, will have a deep impact on families and local communities in Carrickmacross, Dromconrath and in Scotland.

“This is a shocking, devastating event for these families, their communities and the community here in Dundalk.”

He said family liaison officers have been appointed to each of the families and police will keep them updated.

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Superintendent Armstrong urged anyone with information about the collision to contact the investigation team.

He said: “I am appealing to any person who was on the L3168 between 8.30pm and 9.15pm, last night Saturday November 15 2025, to contact the Garda investigation team.

“I am appealing to any person who might have any camera footage or images from the L3168, Gibstown area, between 8.30pm and 9.15pm last night, to give that footage or images to the investigation team at Dundalk Garda Station.”

The L3168 was closed between the N52 and the R171 as forensic experts investigated, and traffic diversions were in place.

Brazil was “a bit surprised” Britain hasn’t contributed to a new investment fund to protect tropical forests, despite having helped to design it, a senior official has told Sky News. 

The Amazon nation has used its role as host of the COP30 climate talks to tout its new scheme, which it drew up with the help of countries including the UK and Indonesia.

With Britain’s budget day looming, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer decided against chipping in when he visited the Amazonian city of Belem this month.

The news came out the day before Brazil was about to launch it.

“The Brazilians were livid” about the timing, one source told Sky News.

Garo Batmanian, director-general of the Brazilian Forestry Service and coordinator of the new scheme, said: “We were expecting [Britain to pay in] because the UK was the very first one to support us.”

The so-called Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) was drawn up with the help of “very bright people from the UK”, according to Mr Batmanian.

“So we are a bit surprised, but we expect that once internal situations get better, hopefully they will come through,” he added.

The UK’s climate envoy, Rachel Kyte, told Sky News: “The PM agreed the decision was about not doing it now, as opposed to not ever.

“We will look at the TFFF after the budget and are carefully tracking how others are investing.”

The fund has been hailed as a breakthrough – if Brazil can get if off the ground.

Paul Polman, former Unilever boss and now co-vice chair of Planetary Guardians, said it could be the “first forest-finance plan big enough to change the game”.

Why do tropical forests need help?

At their best, tropical forests like the Amazon and the Congo Basin provide food, rainfall and clean air for millions of people around the world.

They soak up carbon dioxide – the main driver of climate change – providing a cooling effect on a heating planet.

But they are being nibbled away at by extractive industries like oil, logging, soy and gold.

Parts of the Amazon rainforest already emit more carbon dioxide than they store.

Other pockets are expected to collapse in the next few decades, meaning they’d no longer be rainforests at all.

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Cristiane Mazzetti, senior forest campaigner at Greenpeace Brazil, said: “Science is saying we need to immediately stop deforestation and start restoring what was once lost.

“And in Brazil, we already have enough open land that could be better used for agricultural expansion… There is no need [to open up] new areas.”

Can Brazil’s new investment fund save the world’s rainforests?

For decades, forests have been worth more dead than alive.

Successive attempts to save them have fallen flat because they’ve not been able to flip the economics in favour of conservation, or ensure a long-term stream of cash.

Brazil hopes the TFFF, if it launches, would make forests worth more standing than cut down, and pay out to countries and communities making that happen.

“We don’t pay only for carbon, we are paying for a hectare of standing forest. The more forests you have, the more you are paid,” said Mr Batmanian.

The other “innovation” is to stop relying on aid donations, he said.

“There is a lot of demand for overseas development assistance. It’s normal to have that. We have a lot of crisis, pandemics, epidemics out there.”

Instead, the TFFF is an investment fund that would compete with other commercial propositions.

Mr Polman said: “This isn’t charity, it’s smart economic infrastructure to protect the Amazon and keep our planet safe.”

How does the TFFF raise money?

The idea is to raise a first tranche of cash from governments that can de-risk the fund for private investors.

Every $1 invested by governments could attract a further $4 of private cash.

The TFFF would then be able to take a higher amount of risk to raise above-market returns, Brazil hopes.

That means it could generate enough cash to pay competitive returns to investors and payments to the eligible countries and communities keeping their tropical trees upright.

At least 20% of the payments has been earmarked for indigenous communities, widely regarded as the best stewards of the land. Many, but not all, have welcomed the idea.

Will the TFFF work?

The proposal needs at least $10-25bn of government money to get off the ground.

So far it has raised $5.5bn from the likes of Norway, France, and Indonesia. And the World Bank has agreed to host it, signalling strong credibility.

But it’s a hard task to generate enough money to compete with lucrative industries like gold and oil, many of which governments already invest in.

Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos, director of King’s College London’s Brazil Institute, said TFFF has the potential to make it “very financially viable to have a forest as a forest”.

“But the problem is that TFFF would need to compete with these very profitable industries… because you need to capture as much money from governments, from investors.

“And so far it’s not quite balancing the competitiveness of other sectors that are potentially harmful for forests.”