Palestinians in Gaza have been left exposed to freezing temperatures and flooding as Winter Storm Byron swept through the enclave, compounding an already dire humanitarian situation shaped by prolonged displacement, damaged infrastructure, and severe restrictions on aid. United Nations officials and humanitarian groups say Israel’s continued blocking of critical winter supplies, particularly shelter materials, has left hundreds of thousands of people vulnerable as storms batter tent camps across the territory.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, warned this week that Palestinians are being abandoned in life threatening conditions as heavy rain and cold hit Gaza. “Palestinians in Gaza are literally left ALONE, FREEZING and STARVING in the winter storm. I keep asking how we became such monsters, [i]ncapable of stopping this nightmare,” Albanese wrote on X. “For them, for us, for whatever remains of the people in whose name this genocide is being committed.”
Albanese shared comments from international lawyer Itay Epshtain, who said Israel’s obstruction of aid such as shelter violates international law. Humanitarian organizations say the consequences of those restrictions became visible almost immediately as Byron brought torrential rain on Thursday, flooding large swaths of Gaza and damaging hundreds of makeshift tents.
Medics confirmed that one child, eight month old Rahaf Abu Jazar, died of exposure after her family’s tent in Khan Younis was inundated with water. Speaking to Reuters while holding her daughter, Rahaf’s mother, Hejar Abu Jazar, described the moment she realized her baby had died. “When we woke up, we found the rain over her and the wind on her, and the girl died of cold suddenly,” she said. “There was nothing wrong with her. Oh, the fire in my heart, the fire in my heart, oh my life.”
CNN also reported the mother’s account of the night before the storm hit. “She was completely fine. I breastfed her last night. Then all of a sudden, I found her freezing and shivering. She was healthy, my sweetheart,” she cried.
Across Gaza, displaced families described waking up to water pouring through holes in their tents, soaking blankets, clothes, and bedding. Nour al Ghandour, who lives in a displacement camp, told Al Jazeera that repeated appeals for help have gone unanswered. “We’ve lost faith in everything. I’ve given so many interviews and made appeals. They all come to film our tents and our lives, and the media and everyone else see us crying out, but nothing changes,” she said. “Would anyone accept living in this place? To face winter like this?”
The Norwegian Refugee Council said the storm has exposed the scale of Gaza’s shelter shortage. In the first two months of the ceasefire agreement, the group said “only a trickle of shelter supplies has entered Gaza.” According to NRC, “Due to severe restrictions, UN and international aid organisations have only been able to bring in 15,600 tents for 88,000 people, while 1.29 million still need shelter to survive the winter.” The organization added that Israel has rejected nearly 4,000 pallets of shelter materials from entering Gaza and warned that around 850,000 Palestinians living at displacement sites are at risk of flooding.
Storm damage also strained emergency response capacity. Reuters reported that most tent encampments were flooded, prompting thousands of calls for help. Many of those calls went unanswered due to fuel shortages and damage to heavy equipment such as bulldozers, conditions linked to Israel’s blockade and bombardment of Gaza since the Hamas led October 7, 2023 attack.
The crisis has unfolded amid sharply conflicting claims over whether Israel is complying with ceasefire obligations to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Under the agreement, Israel is supposed to permit 600 trucks of aid to enter the territory each day. On Wednesday, US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz claimed that threshold was being exceeded. “Since President Trump’s Peace Plan was endorsed by the UN Security Council, over 600 trucks per day are now bringing food, shelter, and medicine are now entering [sic],” Waltz wrote on X.
Gaza officials rejected that assertion. The Gaza Government Media Office said no more than 234 trucks per day have entered Gaza since the ceasefire began, calling Waltz’s statement a “blatant attempt to exonerate the [Israeli] occupation from the crime of the blockade and starving the civilian population.” The United Nations has reported that an average of 113 trucks working through the UN network have entered Gaza daily since the ceasefire took effect, while Israel claims an average of 459 trucks are entering each day.
Aid groups say the numbers matter because shortages of shelter, food, fuel, and medical supplies are directly tied to worsening health outcomes, particularly for mothers and children. After more than two years of war, local health officials say the toll continues to mount. Since the ceasefire announced in October, hundreds of alleged Israeli violations have resulted in at least 383 Palestinian deaths and 1,002 injuries. As of Thursday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported 70,373 people killed and 171,079 injured since the war began, figures officials say are likely undercounts due to thousands still missing.
The UN Human Rights Office said Israel has “also damaged or destroyed 94% of Gaza’s hospitals, largely denying women access to essential healthcare, including reproductive healthcare.” The office added that “The Israeli blockade has also prevented the entry of objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, including medical supplies and nutrients required to sustain pregnancies and ensure safe childbirth.”
The consequences for women and infants have been severe. “As a result, women were three times more likely to die from childbirth and three times more likely to miscarry in Gaza by October 2024 compared to before October 7, 2023,” the office said. It reported that newborn deaths have increased, including at least 21 babies who died on their first day of life as of June 30, 2025, and that births dropped by 41% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2022.
UNICEF has also warned about the cascading effects of hunger on mothers and children. Tess Ingram, UNICEF’s communication manager, said, “At least 165 children are reported to have died painful, preventable deaths related to malnutrition during the war.” She added that the scale of malnutrition among pregnant and breastfeeding women has received less attention, despite its deadly impact on newborns. “The pattern is clear—malnourished mothers, giving birth to underweight or premature babies, who die in Gaza’s neonatal intensive care units or survive, only to face malnutrition themselves or potential lifelong medical complications,” Ingram said, recalling seeing newborns with “their tiny chests heaving with the effort of staying alive.”
As storms continue and winter conditions worsen, aid groups and UN officials warn that without an immediate increase in shelter and humanitarian access, more preventable deaths are likely among Gaza’s most vulnerable.
“This ceasefire should offer families safety, not more loss,” Ingram said. “The ongoing attacks and the killing of children must stop immediately.”
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