Children Are Dying of Cold Exposure as Winter Hits Gaza
Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 11:52PM https://truthout.org/articles/children-are-dying-of-cold-exposure-as-winter-hits-gaza/
Israel has continued to restrict the entry of tents, tarps, and blankets into Gaza amid the bone-chilling rains.
Palestinian children move mattresses to protect them from the rain at a makeshift camp housing displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on November 25, 2025. With many displaced living in tent camps, the coming winter is raising serious concerns. BASHAR TALEB / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES-
Families have been desperately trying to protect themselves from drowning by building sand barriers around their tents using shovels, reinforcing them with ropes, or covering them with tarps — but many cannot afford these, as a single tarp can cost up to $30.
As the ceasefire in Gaza took effect in October 2025, many people in Gaza believed that our situation this winter would be better than the previous ones we have endured amid the genocide. But the reality is that conditions are becoming even worse, as Israel continues to restrict the entry of tents, tarps, blankets, and winter clothing into Gaza.
Many are still relying on the same worn-out tents they have used for more than two years — some handmade from cloth or nylon — which cannot withstand harsh winds or heavy rainfall. Water easily seeps inside, soaking the few clothes and blankets they own, leaving them exposed to the biting cold with nothing to protect them as they spend hours trying to dry their clothes and blankets.
According to United Nations estimates, 1.5 million people in Gaza are at risk from the cold and rain due to delays in the delivery of shelter materials, and around 74 percent of the tents currently in use are technically unfit for habitation because of wear and poor quality.
74 percent of the tents currently in use are technically unfit for habitation because of wear and poor quality.
Living in such conditions poses serious health risks, especially for children, who face a high likelihood of respiratory and lung infections, while the elderly and people with chronic illnesses struggle to cope with the biting cold and lack of proper heating.
Munir Al-Barsh, the director-general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, confirmed that the cold wave affecting the Gaza Strip since December 10 has resulted in the deaths of at least three children due to extreme cold. According to Al-Barsh, large numbers of children have been admitted to hospitals suffering from respiratory distress, severe drops in body temperature, and irregular heartbeats as a result of the cold and the lack of heating supplies. Al-Barsh also warned that the death toll from the harsh cold is likely to rise if these severe conditions continue.
Ahlam Al-Raqab, 45, who is currently living in a tent on Al-Mawasi Beach, told me, “We had hoped this ceasefire would ease our living conditions, allow us to return to our neighborhood, and enable tents and winter necessities to reach us — but we saw nothing.”
- Ahlam Al-Raqab works to push away rainwater gathering on her tent, trying to prevent it from collapsing, on December 15, 2025. RIHAB ABU RAIDA
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Al-Raqab explained that when her family was displaced from Eastern Khan Younis, they couldn’t bring mattresses, blankets, or even warm clothing. They are now forced to sleep on the bare ground, exposed to a cold that is unbearable at night, with two people sharing one blanket.
“I spent two weeks suffering from a severe stomach infection, while my children struggle with chest infections and the flu,” she said. “There is no warmth, no way to shield ourselves from the biting cold. The first time it rained, our tent flooded, and we were caught inside by both the downpour and the sea waves reaching it.”
“Our greatest dream now is simple: a mattress to sleep on, a blanket to keep warm, and a tent that can protect us from the winter rain. No organization has provided blankets or replaced our tent, which is worn out and sun-damaged after more than a year of use,” she added.
Randa Hamouda, 48, told me winter was once her favorite season. However, after losing her home in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood and being forced to live in a tent in Deir al-Balah, winter has become a season she now dreads.
“There is no warmth, no way to shield ourselves from the biting cold. The first time it rained, our tent flooded.”
“My husband and my two older sons were the ones who built our tents, as we could not afford to buy one,” she said. “It is made only of wooden poles covered with torn pieces of fabric and old tarpaulins.”
Hamouda continued, “Rainy nights leave us sleepless. All of us work together to push the rainwater out of the tent using squeegees, while we place pots around the tent to catch the water dripping through the holes in the fabric and the worn-out tarpaulins.”
She added that the piece of land where their tent is set up is known for itsclay-like soil, which turns into a muddy swamp whenever it rains, taking days to dry.
“What hurts me the most,” she concluded, “is that I see no end to our suffering. I cannot imagine a future where, every winter, we continue to drown in water and freeze from the cold simply because we cannot afford proper shelter materials.”
In addition to this suffering, nearly 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip has been destroyed or rendered inoperable — including water and sewage networks, roads, pumping stations, and even the rainwater collection basins that once served as the first line of defense during winter.
Gaza Municipality spokesperson Husni Mehanna stated that “the occupation destroyed four main rainwater collection basins and more than 15,000 meters of drainage networks.” As a result, rainwater — mixed with wastewater leaking from collapsed sewage systems — has flooded streets and displacement tents, creating conditions that are highly conducive to the spread of diseases and epidemics.
As winter deepens, people in Gaza continue to urge the world to pressure Israel to allow the entry of shelter materials — especially caravans, which are far more effective than tents in protecting families from rain and cold until the long reconstruction process can begin. They also call for support to help municipalities with equipment, fuel, and qualified staff to rehabilitate the sewage networks. So far, efforts to improve living conditions have been limited and fallen far short of meeting urgent needs, leaving all of us in Gaza to endure the same suffering for a third winter.
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