GAZA CITY, Palestine: The United Nations has warned that Israel’s war and continued blockade have created a “man-made” winter crisis in Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians exposed to harsh weather conditions amid widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said at least 235,000 Palestinians had been affected by severe winter conditions caused by months of war, mass displacement and the collapse of basic shelter.
“Months of war and displacement forced people in Gaza to live amid collapsing ruins in makeshift shelters or in flimsy tents,” Lazzarini said on social media platform X on Monday.
“While Storm Byron that struck Gaza on December 10 was a natural hazard, its consequences are man-made,” he added.
More rain.
More human misery, despair & death.
Harsh winter weather is compounding more than two years of suffering. People in #Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents & among ruins.
There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the… pic.twitter.com/Bb6OGKfzfU
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) December 28, 2025
Storm damage and displacement
According to UNRWA, heavy rains and strong winds linked to low-pressure weather systems caused the collapse of 17 buildings and damaged more than 42,000 tents or makeshift shelters between December 10 and 17. The data was cited from the Shelter Cluster in Gaza.
A new wave of weather depression has battered the Palestinian enclave since the weekend. Gaza’s civil defence said two people were killed and tens of thousands of tents were uprooted.
Displaced Palestinians are living in worn-out tents or severely damaged buildings that remain at high risk of collapse after repeated Israeli air strikes since October 2023.
Ceasefire violations
Despite a ceasefire that took effect on October 10, Israeli strikes continued in Gaza on Monday, injuring three Palestinians, according to medical sources, cited by Anadolu Agency.
A medical official, cited by Anadolu, said that the injuries occurred when Israeli strikes hit the western Jabalia refugee camp.
Witnesses said the strike targeted an area from which Israeli forces had withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli attacks were also reported in eastern Gaza City, the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and Rafah in the south, witnesses said.
Israel has killed more than 71,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,200 others in Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian health ministry.
Blockade deepens humanitarian crisis
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to keep Gaza’s crossings closed, blocking the entry of mobile homes and reconstruction materials.
UN agencies say this has worsened conditions for nearly 2.4 million Palestinian residents.
UN officials and Gaza authorities have repeatedly warned that the lack of shelter and heating is proving fatal during winter storms.
Deaths from cold
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday that a two-month-old baby, Arkan Firas Musleh, died due to extreme cold, raising the number of infants who have died from cold weather to three since early December.
Gaza Civil Defence said at least 25 people, including six children, have died due to freezing temperatures and the collapse of damaged buildings.
Spokesman Mahmoud Basal said 18 previously damaged buildings had fully collapsed, while more than 110 others partially collapsed during the latest storm.
He added that 90 percent of tents sheltering displaced civilians were either uprooted or flooded.
“Thousands of families have been left without shelter or clothes to protect them from the cold,” Basal said, calling for urgent reconstruction and the provision of mobile homes.
