DayofPal—Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in makeshift camps along the southern coast are bracing for months of cold, flooding, and worsening starvation as winter storms begin sweeping across Gaza.
Last week’s first major storm offered a grim preview. In Al-Mawasi, an overcrowded coastal zone now housing roughly 500,000 displaced people, winds and heavy rain tore apart tents and washed away belongings.
62-year-old Sabah Al-Breem said her family’s shelter assembled from tarpaulins and salvaged wood, collapsed twice in one night.
“Everything fell apart. All our things were soaked,” she said. “The day that storm came was a black day for us.”
For many Gazans, this winter marks their third spent in displacement since the war began in October 2023.
Although the two-year war has ebbed under a ceasefire agreement, its aftermath remains a profound humanitarian crisis. More than 2 million residents now struggle with destroyed homes, scarce food, and limited clean water.
Humanitarian groups warn that adequate shelter is now the most urgent need. Large parts of Gaza have been flattened by Israeli airstrikes, and many neighborhoods lie east of Israel’s newly established “yellow line”, an area under military control and largely inaccessible to civilians.
Aid organizations say essential supplies remain tied up in a maze of restrictions. While Donald Trump’s proposed 20-point ceasefire plan calls for “full aid” to flowing into Gaza, agencies report that deliveries remain severely insufficient.
“There is improvement in that people aren’t starving,” said a senior official from an international NGO. “But this is nowhere near enough. We have massive stockpiles of tents and tarps we still can’t get in. We could distribute 10,000 tents a day if allowed.”
Israel’s COGAT agency denies blocking necessary materials and says it has helped distribute nearly 140,000 tarpaulins. But aid officials say Israel continues to prohibit items such as tent poles, claiming potential military use.
Meanwhile, the critical Rafah crossing remains closed, and most supplies now enter via smaller routes operated largely by private donors or Gulf nations. Prices inside Gaza have become wildly unpredictable: a single tent can cost around $800 far beyond the reach of nearly all families.
Food remains the secondmost urgent need. Community kitchens are operating, but they cannot keep up with demand. Many residents rely on canned goods or meager meals that arrive only every few days.
Maher Abu Jerad, 29, displaced from Beit Lahiya, said his family of four survives mainly on beans and peas. “Sometimes we get one meal from the public kitchen every three days,” he said. “Water is also difficult, we carry it from far away and it doesn’t last.”
The initial storm sent tents tumbling across roads and beaches, with seawater surging into camps. Overcrowded conditions and limited sanitation are already accelerating the spread of respiratory illnesses.
“With no infrastructure or drainage, rainwater pools around the tents,” said Mohammed Madhoun, a community healthcare worker in Deir Al-Balah. “It’s making sanitation far worse.”
Residents say the sound of crashing waves keeps them awake at night, and at times, water floods directly into their shelters.
“We have no blankets, no bedding, nothing,” said Breem. “And this is only the beginning of winter.”
The first phase of the ceasefire, an Israeli partial withdrawal and the return of some captives, is nearly complete, and the UN security council has endorsed Trump’s plan for a transitional administration run by Palestinian technocrats and backed by an international stabilization force.
The war began in October 2023 with Israeli military campaign having killed more than 69,000 Palestinians and reduced much of Gaza to rubble.
For many, memories of normal life feel painfully distant. Naama Arafat, now living in a tent on the shore of Al-Mawasi, recalls her “simple, warm home” east of Khan Younis.
“Back then we had warm clothes, mattresses, blankets,” she said. “Now we can’t even light a fire to cook. I pray our suffering eases. I plead with the world to see us with mercy, winter has only just begun.”
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