Aid continues to trickle into Gaza, while severe shortages of shelter materials, food, blankets, and winter clothing are putting lives at risk as winter storms intensify.
Baraa, displaced in Deir al-Balah from Beit Lahia, told ActionAid: “Right now we're living in a tent, but it doesn't belong to us; it’s my uncle’s, and it’s in terrible condition. We’ve been using the blankets that should be keeping us warm just to plug the holes in the tent. We have no winter clothes. My father died in the genocide, so there is no one to help us. We were displaced in the summer and had no time to pack anything, our house, our clothes, everything has been bulldozed.”
Another anonymous displaced woman told ActionAid: “Our living conditions are extremely difficult. There is no shelter, no medical treatment, no food, and no medical supplies. Even the infrastructure is destroyed. We live in a tent that offers no protection from the summer heat or the winter cold. Every time it rains, the tents, mattresses, and clothes are flooded.”
ActionAid is urgently calling for all border crossings to be fully reopened now. Independent humanitarian organisations, coordinated by the UN, and especially those led by women and youth, must have full, unhindered access to provide life-saving assistance, including food, healthcare, water, shelter materials, and psychosocial support.
Jamil Sawalmeh, Country Director of ActionAid Palestine said: “Palestinians in Gaza have been deprived of protection and assistance for far too long. Humanitarian access rooted in dignity and rights means recognising that needs are never neutral, women, men, boys, and people with disabilities experience crisis differently, and aid must reflect that.
“But today, families are facing a second catastrophe: the winter storms. Children are sleeping in flooded tents, parents are burning scraps of plastic to stay warm, and entire communities are being washed into the mud. Our partners and staff are watching their shelters collapse in the rain, no one in Gaza is safe from this storm. No one can survive a winter like this without proper shelter.
“Let me be clear: without an immediate flow of shelter materials into Gaza, this winter will become a death sentence for thousands. Palestinian NGOs and civil society organisations, especially women and youth, are central to ensuring aid reaches those who need it most.”
ENDS
Jamil Sawalmeh, Country Director of ActionAid Palestine and Riham Jafari, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, are available for interview. Please contact the press office at uk.media@actionaid.org or on 07753 973 486.