Relentless winter storms have pushed already fragile living conditions in Gaza to breaking point, with families sheltering in torn tents and shattered buildings facing bitter cold, flooding and structural collapse. Days of heavy rain and powerful winds have turned makeshift camps into waterlogged fields, leaving thousands without dry ground or adequate protection as temperatures fall.

Local accounts describe roofs caving in on damaged homes where displaced families had sought refuge, while children and elderly people struggle to survive the cold. Medical facilities, themselves stretched beyond capacity, have been inundated by floodwater, compounding shortages and disrupting care. Entire rows of tents have been swept away overnight, forcing people to move again with little more than the clothes they are wearing.

These conditions are unfolding amid a genocidal war that has strangled access to essential relief. The continued obstruction of supplies such as shelter materials, heating equipment and basic aid has deepened the humanitarian emergency, leaving civilians to endure winter without the means to protect themselves. As storms persist, the cost of delay is measured not only in damaged infrastructure, but in lives lost to exposure and preventable tragedy.