Shafaq News

As the Gaza Strip braces for the winter of 2025–2026, aid agencies warn that conditions may reach catastrophic levels. With the death toll from the Israeli war already surpassing 66,000, nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced. Many now live in makeshift tents, erected along sidewalks, near garbage dumps, or by open sewage channels, while thousands more sleep in public squares without any shelter.

The looming cold season amplifies the suffering. Displacement sites lack food, winter clothing, blankets, or heating, while overcrowding and collapsing sanitation systems leave families exposed to disease and harsh weather.

“We were displaced four times in five months and ended up pitching a tent on the pavement,” Umm Mohammed, a mother from northern Gaza told Shafaq News. “There is no food, no clothes, no essentials.”

Past winters foreshadow the dangers ahead. In 2024–2025, storms destroyed thousands of tents and flooded camps, forcing families to burn scraps of wood or plastic for warmth, often inhaling toxic smoke. Humanitarian groups attempted to distribute winter kits—blankets, thermal clothing, waterproofing materials—but their reach fell far short of the need. Aid workers anticipate similar shortages this year, with limited access, lack of fuel, and scarce funding due to the Israeli blockade of all crossings obstructing relief.

“We left with only summer clothes. As the cold intensifies, our suffering will multiply,” said Mohammed Saad, a displaced resident now sleeping on the streets of Deir al-Balah.

Abdul Nabi Dawas, another displaced, described children developing skin diseases in filthy encampments surrounded by uncollected garbage. “We are exhausted on every level—economic, humanitarian, and psychological. Where we set up our tents, garbage piles up. We have repeatedly asked for it to be cleared, but nothing has been done. Worms and insects are now emerging, along with unbearable odors.”

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The United Nations stresses that without urgent, large-scale interventions to provide proper shelter, fuel, and winter clothing, the coming months could see an intensification of Gaza’s humanitarian collapse.

The strip’s population, already shattered by war and displacement, now faces the winter with little more than thin fabric tents against cold rain and wind.

Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.