As 2025 drew to a close, Gaza entered the winter months under sustained strain. Cold temperatures, heavy rainfall, and winter storms compounded an already severe humanitarian crisis—particularly for displaced families living in overcrowded shelters, informal sites, or damaged buildings with limited access to basic services. Flooding across residential areas and displacement sites increased health risks, including hypothermia among infants and illness linked to contaminated floodwaters and overflowing sewage.
Humanitarian partners continued to respond to flood-related emergencies by distributing emergency shelter and winterization items, including tents, tarpaulins, blankets, warm clothing, and dignity kits. Heavy equipment was also deployed, where possible, to divert sewage from flooded areas. However, needs continue to far outpace available resources.
Shelter assistance remains critically insufficient, with an estimated one million people still in urgent need. Hundreds of thousands remain in makeshift tents or structurally compromised buildings, many of which have been further damaged by rain, wind, and seawater.
Against this backdrop, UN agencies and humanitarian partners continue to stress the urgent need for predictable and unimpeded humanitarian access, increased supplies, and sustained funding to support life-saving assistance and early recovery efforts in Gaza.