The dangers facing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are no longer limited to bombing, destruction, and the loss of loved ones. Rain, wind, and plummeting temperatures now pose an additional threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands who have lost their homes and are forced to take shelter in dilapidated tents that offer no protection from the harsh weather or even the most basic safety. As the fourth winter since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, approaches, survivors find themselves facing a new battle for survival in a war-torn Gaza Strip where vast areas of homes and infrastructure have been destroyed. Humanitarian needs far exceed the aid reaching the population.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip, reveals that concerns are compounded by the fact that available shelter supplies cover only 17 percent of winter needs. This highlights the widening gap between the scale of the disaster the population is experiencing and the capacity of the humanitarian response to address it, at a time when health and environmental risks are increasing as displacement conditions deteriorate.
The catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip becomes even more apparent with the approach of winter. Tents are less about providing shelter and more about offering fragile refuge that merely postpones, rather than prevents, the danger. Families who have lost their homes find themselves forced to face the rainy season with limited blankets and tents worn down by the sun and torn by the wind. Water leaks threaten to destroy what little remains of their belongings, turning their displacement camps into spaces devoid of basic necessities.
Mahmoud Basal warns that the continued shortage of shelter supplies will leave residents vulnerable to drowning inside their tents and the destruction of their belongings, in addition to deaths related to the cold and low temperatures. He adds that the tents and tarpaulins entering the Strip do not meet the actual needs, and some of the materials that do arrive, he says, do not even provide adequate protection.
