Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza who have been granted visas for Belgium lost much of their shelter and belongings in severe storms overnight from Friday to Saturday, prompting relatives already in Belgium to seek an urgent meeting with Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot.

Ismail Al-Najar, who speaks for the Palestinians in Belgium, said their families were still waiting for clear information on how the federal government plans to reunite them. He said no concrete steps had yet been communicated.

According to Al-Najar, nearly all Gazans in the affected areas were hit by the extreme weather. Photos and video showed entire tent camps flooded after heavy storms.

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Al Jazeera reported that 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza suffered losses of materials and belongings worth more than €3 million. In several camps, water levels rose by 30 to 40 centimetres.

More than 125,000 families living along the coast are said to be at serious risk of having their tents washed away. Among them are 1,500 to 1,800 Palestinians in Gaza who hold Belgian visas.

“Our relatives could not sleep all night because of the weather,” Al-Najar said. “Many people have been affected by the storm, and their tents and personal possessions have been flooded or lost. The cold is deadly, but the fear and uncertainty are just as devastating as bullets.”

He said families in Belgium were desperate to understand what was being done to bring their relatives to safety. For that reason, he said, they want to meet the foreign minister as soon as possible.

Al-Najar also said he wanted to make contact with several political parties, naming Groen, Vooruit and Les Engagés. He said he was open to talks with all parties and called for a joint effort to find a solution and secure support for evacuating the families.

He also referred to Prévot’s earlier proposal to prioritise the evacuation of 320 Palestinians from Gaza as part of a so-called deal with Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt. That proposal became caught up in a dispute over 13 students from Gaza who held student visas to study at Belgian universities but whose return was opposed by Van Bossuyt and the MR party.

In mid-October, Prévot told parliament that the matter would remain blocked as long as what he described as inappropriate blackmail continued, referring to the position of coalition partner MR. At the time, the party was preventing an agreement between Van Bossuyt and Prévot.

Even then, the foreign minister said he still wanted to secure the evacuation of 320 other Palestinians who met the conditions for family reunification. He also said he wanted to release €4 million to support a World Health Organization project to evacuate sick children to Jordan for medical treatment.

At the same time, Prévot stressed in October that, in practice, 1,800 Palestinians in Gaza would not all qualify for family reunification with relatives in Belgium. He said it was important to be honest about that.

Responding to the storm, Prévot said he understood the plight of family members in Gaza. He said the recent extreme weather had made an already dire situation even worse, and that it was entirely understandable that families wanted to bring their relatives to safety and reunite with them as quickly as possible.

He also said it remained regrettable that no agreement had been reached within the federal government. He added that the authorities wanted to communicate honestly and clearly with the families involved and not give them false hope.

Prévot’s office said it was now looking at the possibility of receiving a delegation of representatives soon. It said the minister wanted to hear their concerns directly, speak with them and update them on the current situation.

Despite the lack of a government agreement, Prévot said Belgium remained fully committed to helping the people of Gaza through humanitarian aid and development co-operation. He said Belgium would continue to support its partners on the ground in meeting the population’s most urgent needs, despite the extremely difficult conditions.