Gaza Prepares for Another Difficult Winter Despite the Ceasefire

As winter approaches in Gaza, people are feeling miserable about what they could encounter this season, the third winter since the start of the genocide. Though the ceasefire is in effect, Gaza’s people are still suffering from the massive destruction of the Strip. The United Nations Satellite Center published a preliminary analysis showing that, as of Sept. 23, approximately 83% of all buildings in Gaza City were damaged, with an estimated 81,159 housing units affected. Nearly 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, many living in makeshift shelters without adequate clothing or protection from the cold.

Eman, 38, is a Palestinian woman and mother of five from northern Gaza who evacuated her home with her family when the genocide began in October 2023. At first, she told Prism, she thought she would get back to her home in a matter of weeks. She didn’t take any clothes, supplies or other necessities.

She first stayed with relatives in the south, but the house was crowded with five families, so there wasn’t enough space. With no other option, she moved her family into a tent. Life in the tent quickly became a daily struggle, especially during the harsh winter. Her two youngest children, 7 and 10, frequently fell ill. With few clothes and no blankets, she had to buy what little she could, often at exorbitant prices: a pair of pajamas that used to cost 50 shekels was now 200, she said.

Even after the war officially ended, Eman remained in the same tent. She once tried returning north to check on her house, only to find it reduced to rubble. With nowhere else to go, she returned south to her tent, facing the same hardships. Now, as winter approaches again, Eman worries about keeping her children warm, protecting them from rain and cold, and affording even the simplest clothing. 

“What hurts me the most is when my young children tell me that they are still feeling cold, even though they are wearing thick pajamas and I’m covering them,” she said.

The tent feels cold even on summer nights, Eman said. “So what about now, when winter is coming and we are only protected by a thin fabric that doesn’t keep the water out?”

It’s expensive to be displaced

Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, an average of only 145 trucks carrying commercial goods and aid have entered Gaza daily, just 24% of the 600 trucks agreed upon under the ceasefire terms. 

This shortage has a direct impact on daily life. With so few supplies available, prices for basic clothing, blankets and winter goods have skyrocketed, making it hard for families already struggling in tents to stay warm. The winter brings not only cold and rain, but also a harsh economic burden, forcing parents to make impossible choices between food, clothing and shelter. 

Hassan, 21, will spend his second winter in a tent this year. He and his family have been displaced since June 5, 2024, when they fled after Israeli forces took control of Rafah. Their tent, made of plastic sheets and ropes, cost them more than $600 to set up, he said — a huge amount for a family that had to start from zero.

Last winter, their tent flooded several times, Hassan said. The wind often tore through the plastic walls, and the ground around them turned into sticky mud. “Everything was dirty, everything was wet,” Hassan recalled. “We wrapped ourselves with extra plastic sheets to stay dry, but even that was expensive.”

When he hears the sound of rain now, it no longer brings comfort. 

“Before the war, when I heard the rain, I used to lie in bed feeling warm and happy, maybe drinking hot chocolate,” he said. “Now, when it rains, I jump up to check the tent, to make sure the water isn’t coming in.”

This winter, Hassan’s fear is even greater as he worries about his younger siblings. “The war has ended now, and there are no other excuses to tell them why we’re still in a tent, why we can’t go back to a home that doesn’t exist anymore,” he said. “I’m afraid to tell them that they will have to face this winter and this cold again and again, even after the war has ended.”

Until this fall, Mariam, 20, was living in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City with her parents and three siblings. On Sept. 17, after the invasion of Israeli troops in northern Gaza, Mariam and her family left their home in panic and fled to the south. Like thousands of others with nowhere else to go, “setting up a tent was the only option,” she recalled.

Then the ceasefire came into effect. “We held a hope that our home would still be standing and that the unbearable life in the tent would end,” Mariam said. But when they returned, they were shocked by the amount of destruction, finding no place for them in Gaza City. 

Their tent, which was meant to be temporary, has now become a permanent reality. 

“Almost two months have passed, but for us, it felt like painful years. A tent can never be a dignified place. It can never be a home,” Mariam said.

Desperate to escape the tent before winter comes, Mariam’s family tried to find a house to rent among the ones still standing in Gaza. 

“Renting a house at a normal price in Gaza feels impossible. A damaged house, a burnt house, or a house without services may cost $1,000 and more,” she said. For Mariam, the approaching winter has intensified the stress of living in a tent. “Since October began, I have been sick for three consecutive times,” she told Prism. “The wind and the cold breeze at night causes me to get the flu; all of this suffers before even winter starts.”

Safety concerns

The hardship extends beyond the cold itself. In the overcrowded tents where families live shoulder to shoulder, the lack of cooking gas deepens their struggle. Only limited quantities of gas have entered Gaza, far from enough to reach everyone. Many people still depend on burning wood, plastic or scraps of fabric for cooking and warmth.

But in winter, even this becomes a struggle. The rain and strong winds make lighting a fire outside the tent extremely difficult, forcing many to cook inside their tents. The smoke fills the air, turning the small tents into suffocating traps.

Among those enduring these challenges is Iktimal, a 67-year-old woman who has diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. She lives with her daughter in a small tent. “We cook inside the tent because the rain and wind don’t let us do it outside,” she said. “But whenever we light the fire, I start coughing and feel like I can’t breathe.”

The smoke settles on everything: the fabric walls, their blankets and their skin. 

“Sometimes I stop cooking altogether,” she added. “I’m afraid the tent will catch fire, but what else can we do? The gas didn’t reach us. We have no choice.” 

Worsening health challenges

The health situation in Gaza also remains dire. Not all hospitals across the Strip are functioning, and those still operating face severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies. Despite the ceasefire, no significant medical equipment or stock has entered Gaza.

In mid-August, Doctors Without Borders reported a sharp rise in respiratory tract infections, typically more common during winter months. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, acute respiratory infections now account for 67% of total morbidity.

Dr. Rami Alsarafndi, working at Nasser Hospital, explained that the months of famine have left a deep impact on people’s immune systems, making them far more vulnerable to disease. 

“Not all types of food have entered the Strip yet,” he said. “People’s bodies are still weak and need time and proper nutrition to recover. Now with winter coming, we’re already seeing a rise in illnesses.”

The combination of cold weather, poor sanitation, and overcrowded tents makes the situation even worse. “In tents, access to toilets is difficult,” Rami added. “At night, when people leave their tents to use the bathroom, they’re exposed to the freezing air, which often leads to colds and flu. The tents themselves are not warm, and the surrounding areas are dirty; it all contributes to illness.”

‏As winter approaches, without immediate improvements to water, sanitation, shelter and nutrition, more people could die from entirely preventable causes.