In a coastal displacement camp in western Gaza City, 60-year-old Mohammed al-Jamal struggles to secure the worn-out nylon sheets of his family’s tent as a severe storm approaches. Alongside his sons, he attempts to anchor the tarpaulin firmly against the ground to withstand the biting rain and strong coastal winds.

This marks the fourth consecutive winter that displaced Palestinians in Gaza are forced to endure without adequate housing. With replacement tarpaulins costing between $37 and $47 in local markets—an unaffordable sum for many—families are compelled to repeatedly patch up deteriorating shelters that offer virtually no insulation against plunging temperatures and storms.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), hundreds of thousands of families across Gaza urgently require winter shelter assistance. However, stringent restrictions enforced by the Israeli regime have severely crippled the entry of essential supplies. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has reported that crucial shelter materials are bottlenecked, with deliveries potentially taking months to clear.

Compounding the crisis, extensive damage to municipal infrastructure, including collapsed drainage systems and severe shortages of heavy machinery and fuel, elevates the risk of camps flooding with mixed rainwater and sewage. Displaced residents express deep frustration, noting that repeated promises of structured shelter assistance from international actors have failed to materialize.

Source: www.aljazeera.com