Nearly one million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face harsh winters without adequate shelter, with growing suffering in tents that do not provide protection from the cold and rain, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said. The sector is suffering from a shelter crisis, with only 23% of shelter needs met this fall, leaving many families vulnerable to extreme weather conditions.

According to the Shelter Palestine report, it is estimated that 2,000 trucks loaded with tents or 200 trucks loaded with winter insulators are needed to provide basic protection for 1.13 million displaced Palestinians. By late November, only 285,000 displaced people had received the necessary shelter materials, while the ongoing Israeli military operation in the northern Gaza Strip since last October had displaced an additional 100,000 Palestinians, bringing the total in need of shelter to 945,000.

A winter storm in late November swept through several displacement sites, flooding tents and makeshift shelters, forcing many families to relocate.