Fragile tents fail to shield Gaza's displaced from winter’s wrath

With temperatures falling to around 15C at night, Eyad Khalaf has been struggling to find a tent, tarpaulin, or any materials to help fortify the feeble shed sheltering his five children and four grandchildren in a devastated Khan Younis.

With the help of a neighbour and his children, Khalaf spreads a borrowed tarpaulin over the shack in a desperate attempt to block some of the multiple holes bringing in chilly gusts of air. But the extra layer offers no real warmth, nor protects the family from rainwater.

"After 13 months of genocide, how much longer can we endure?" Khalaf asks TRT World despairingly. "Why is the world silent in the face of our tragedy? Do they not see our children shivering from the cold and suffering from hunger?"

As Gaza's drained population faces a second winter since Israel launched its war on the enclave last October, access to humanitarian aid has reached a record low.

Despite global pressure and a warning to Tel Aviv from the United States to improve humanitarian conditions for the 2.3 million people stranded in the enclave, of whom 1.9 million people are displaced, Israel is accused of continuing to block and impede relief and essentials from reaching Gaza.

Miserable living conditions

According to OCHA, only 1,140 humanitarian trucks were permitted to enter Gaza in the first 16 days of November. That's a daily average of only 71 humanitarian trucks, which is well below the average of 500 trucks that entered Gaza every working day before the war.

The outcome is miserable living conditions.

Aside from the "alarmingly deteriorating" food security conditions across Gaza, particularly in the cutoff northern region but also quickly spreading in the central and southern governorates, the majority of displaced people are living in tents that aren't inhabitable.

With winter's first rain, displacement camps and centres are flooded with rainwater. The conditions are ripe for the spread of communicable and waterborne diseases—diseases that adversely affect children and lead to preventable deaths.

Winter in Gaza began around mid-November, with winds picking up pace, rain falling and temperatures dropping, especially at night. Along the coast, they could reach as low as 11C. The season is expected to last until late February, during which temperatures can fall to 5C or lower.

"Naturally, winter is a season of rain that everyone looks forward to every year. However, for the displaced and those living in destroyed homes, this season has become a curse. It's real torture, in every aspect of our daily lives," Khalaf said.

Mohamed Abdul Ghafour, director of the Wafaa Al-Muhsineen Charitable Foundation in Gaza, said that last winter was easier compared to the current one for many reasons.

"Last winter, Rafah was not invaded by the occupation army, and therefore the displaced population was less. Currently, however, there are more displaced people crammed in smaller spaces, in al-Mawasi and the partially destroyed city of Khan Younis or Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Strip, which means resources are fewer."

He added that far more humanitarian supplies were allowed last winter.

'Death is better'

Khalaf said he is consumed with worry. He watches his family, which once lived a comfortable life in their two-story concrete house for years, suffer from destitution in the current shack which they've built from tin sheets salvaged from their now-destroyed home.

"(The shack) becomes unbearably cold at night, reminiscent of a refrigerator, despite the sun warming it during the day. It is covered in tin, but with numerous large holes allowing cold air to enter, creating an even chillier environment inside," he explained.

He tries to comfort his children, but the father's focus has been on finding ways to cope with the rain and severe cold.

His concerns are the same as many others, whose tents and shelters have been worn out by year-long exposure to the elements and repeated displacements, and offer little protection against the biting cold and building rainwater.

"During winter, we're constantly on edge. The most painful concern is the potential collapse of the shack, which happened to me last winter during the fierce winds. In those moments, you wish you had been killed in the bombing instead," he said.

Israel has killed nearly 44,000 people in Gaza over the past year. Thousands more are believed to be buried beneath the rubble that is now filling up with rainwater.

"Death would have been easier than enduring these excruciating experiences," Khalaf added.

Unable to protect family

In the centre of al-Mawasi, Suleiman Omar's family has been displaced since the beginning of last December. They are living in a makeshift pergola made of wood and nylon panels, which has not seen any improvements throughout this nearly year-long ordeal.

Speaking to TRT World, the 57-year-old said he has struggled to provide even basic winter necessities like tarpaulins or thick nylon to protect his family from rain or cold.

Omar sits with his wife, Amal, and their three teenage children in front of the pergola, which appears to be on the verge of collapse as it's weighed down by rainwater that has gathered on top.

Having been unemployed since the war began, he wasn't able to afford additional materials to strengthen or improve their displacement accommodation, especially as prices continued to spike amidst severe shortages in supplies of tents, fabrics and other components.

This has left him feeling helpless about how to keep his family safe from the rain or provide them with winter clothing.

"We have no preparations for winter. We don't have many opportunities to change our reality. I just pray to God to grant us patience for this harsh life or to take our lives so we can rest from this catastrophe," he said.

Sadness is evident in his expression as he continued.

"We are unable to protect our family from the rain with the little we have, and we can't afford flour, food, or even drinking water. We can barely find those, and if we get sick, we can't find medicine. Is this a life that a human being can hope to continue?"

After a moment of silence, Omar scrolls through local radio stations on his old mobile phone to hear the latest weather updates. He learns from a news bulletin that southern Gaza is experiencing a significant drop in temperatures.

As he absorbs this information, he turns away slightly from his family, trying to hide his feelings of weakness.

Unanswered questions

In the midst of these dire living conditions, relief agencies are unable to provide much support, since their own access to essential items are constrained by Israel's rules.

According to OCHA, out of the 319 humanitarian movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza between November 1-18, 2024, less than half (132) were facilitated. Some 105 were denied access, 51 impeded and 31 cancelled due to logistical and security challenges.

Abdul Ghafour said that over 80 percent of displaced people's tents are now worn out and generally unfit for living, especially in winter.

"These painful humanitarian disasters are likely to occur as air depressions deepen, bringing intense rains, winds, and dropping temperatures," he added.

Complicating matters is Israel's shuttering of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in May, through which most of the humanitarian items came in.

"The 100 trucks we received last winter loaded with mattresses, blankets, and tents were fewer than needed at the time, but were much better than having received nothing at all this season. We're forced to buy from the local market to serve those in need, and the market offers very limited quantities at prices that are exorbitant," Abdul Ghafour said.

"The need is multiplying, and we aren't able to serve."

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.