Gaza Herald_ As winter approaches, nearly two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are in urgent need of shelter, while 1.8 million displaced people live in sites highly vulnerable to flooding, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Damaged tents, structurally compromised buildings, broken drainage systems, and deliberate restrictions on humanitarian supplies by the Israeli occupation are leaving families completely exposed to freezing rain, floods, and plunging temperatures following years of forced displacement and widespread, systematic destruction.
The IOM warned that the harsh onset of winter will severely worsen conditions across the besieged enclave, where almost the entire population requires critical shelter assistance. Chronic funding shortages combined with ongoing Israeli blockades on essential shelter materials prevent humanitarian organizations from meeting the staggering scale of need. Furthermore, heavier rainfall driven by intensifying El Niño conditions threatens to further weaken already hazardous buildings, while shattered drainage networks leave communities defenseless against rising waters.
Flooding and Blockaded Aid Threaten Displaced Families
The IOM estimates that approximately 1.8 million people are crowded into displacement sites, many situated in zones prone to severe flooding. Rising water levels threaten to wash away makeshift shelters, destroy what little possessions families have left, and force people into yet another cycle of displacement. This looming disaster compounds the endless trauma of repeated displacement and the total loss of homes and livelihoods under Israel’s genocidal war.
While approximately 8,600 emergency shelter kits procured by the IOM are sitting ready for delivery just outside Gaza, Israeli authorities continue to block their entry at crossing points. Humanitarian teams are forced to rely on scarce local or salvaged materials, efforts that provide only temporary relief and fall drastically short of Gaza’s massive shelter requirements. IOM Director-General Amy Pope urged that families enduring such devastating losses be allowed to face winter safely, demanding that shelter materials enter rapidly and in sufficient quantities. Pope also warned that emergency tents have deteriorated past their 6-to-12-month lifespans, forcing many families into war-damaged buildings that pose extreme safety hazards.
Damaged Buildings Pose a Deadly Risk
The dangers extend far beyond frayed tents and makeshift shelters, as structures weakened by relentless Israeli bombardment and prolonged structural damage continue to threaten lives across Gaza. Highlighting these lethal conditions, the IOM noted that dozens of people were killed last month when a war-damaged building collapsed in Gaza City. Assessments from humanitarian agencies previously identified more than 3,600 buildings as hazardous and at imminent risk of collapse.
These fatal structural dangers force families into an impossible choice between remaining in unsafe, crumbling structures or seeking refuge in overcrowded, flood-prone displacement camps. The IOM has called for the immediate and sustained entry of tents, emergency shelter kits, and housing units to reinforce homes and protect families. As winter sets in, the agency warned that continued delays in delivering these life-saving supplies will leave millions exposed to entirely preventable tragedies, making adequate shelter an urgent humanitarian necessity rather than a temporary convenience.
