For over a year, Gazans have endured relentless devastation and struggled with limited access to essential supplies, including food, shelter, winter clothing, and heating.

Winter temperatures in Gaza are typically mild, but during the coldest months, which extend from December through February, daytime temperatures average between 12°C and 18°C, while nighttime temperatures can drop to around 7°C or lower.

While rainfall is common, it is often accompanied by strong winds, making conditions especially challenging for displaced families in tent encampments across the Gaza Strip and exposing them to severe health risks.

Sudden downpours in November washed away tents sheltering thousands of displaced families in Gaza City and southern Gaza, destroying personal belongings, mattresses, and other essential items.

Palestine’s Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that over 10,000 tents in the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip were swept away due to strong winds and heavy rain. PRCS Director Bashar Murad said that the displaced residents were forced to relocate in areas farther away in dire circumstances.

Elham Matar, 45, told Al-Ahram Weekly by telephone from her wet tent in Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip that she never expected to spend another winter there. “The situation in my tent is terrible due to the heavy rain. We are wet. The tent and the blankets are soaked with water. The water has damaged our belongings,” she stated.

“Winter hasn’t even started yet in Gaza, but it has rained multiple times already. We spend the nights standing up, as there is no other way out. I pity my grandchildren who shiver from the cold, especially in the early morning. I pray to God things are over soon,” Matar said.

Murad said that 40 per cent of children in the southern Gaza Strip suffer from malnutrition due to Israeli restrictions imposed on aid entering southern Gaza.

Rescue teams have warned of the risks of further disasters as winter draws on, particularly in low-lying areas where Israeli airstrikes have destroyed drainage systems and bomb-damaged buildings could collapse and result in more casualties.

Meanwhile, the northern Gaza Strip has become the focal point of a devastating humanitarian crisis, particularly in the towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Despite the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the area, between 50,000 and 75,000 people have refused to evacuate, according to the OCHA. These people are now trapped in unimaginable conditions.

Additionally, most UN efforts to deliver aid to the area in November were obstructed by Israeli forces, except for a single World Food Programme (WFP) mission on 11 November, a report issued by the OCHA said.

Hospitals have been explicitly targeted by Israeli forces since the onset of the Israeli operations in northern Gaza. The bombings, sieges, and raids on medical facilities, especially on the Kamal Adwan Hospital, over the past weeks have resulted in dozens of wounded staff, including the hospital’s director Hossam Abu Safeya, and the detention of multiple health workers by Israeli forces, a report published by the Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said.

In video footage which went viral, Abu Safeya said that he would continue to provide care no matter the cost. “It is an honour for me to serve those who are still here,” he added.

Even embryos were not spared the deadly Israeli attacks, and the hopes of many couples in Gaza who suffered fertility issues were wiped out after an Israeli missile attack hit Gaza’s largest fertility centre in December.

A report issued by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a NGO, documented the testimonies of Bahaaeddin Al-Ghalayini, 74, the owner and director of the Basma IVF Clinic in Gaza.

“Just one strike. That’s all it took. One strike, and thousands of potential lives were lost. For at least half of the couples who were patients at the clinic, many of whom had spent years saving for treatments, those embryos represented their final hope of conceiving,” he said.

He said that the strike had blasted the lids off five liquid nitrogen tanks stored in a corner of the embryology unit. More than 4,000 embryos were destroyed, along with 1,000 specimens of sperm and unfertilised eggs.

FOOD SHORTAGES: Securing food in Gaza has become a nearly surreal experience. Reports indicate that a dire humanitarian crisis is unfolding in central and southern Gaza, where nearly two-thirds of the population has been displaced.

The Israeli blockade has prevented the flow of aid and goods, while thieves target the few aid trucks that are allowed to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, causing the prices of essential food items to rise dramatically.

The shortage of flour has doubled the humanitarian crisis in central and southern Gaza. Its price has soared to over $150 per sack, making it unaffordable for the majority of residents.

People wait for long hours in queues to buy bread. In addition to the shortage of flour and its high prices, the prices of vegetables and fruits are also rising.

Linda Mikdad, 35, described her daily struggle to buy food for her family from her tattered tent in Khan Younis after losing all sources of income due to the ongoing war. “One kg of tomatoes now costs $20, one kg of potatoes costs $30, one kg of cucumbers costs $10 – these are Paris prices. My kids go to bed hungry,” she said.

The closure of crossings has worsened the crisis, with only 20 to 30 trucks permitted into Gaza every other day, half of which are reportedly seized by gangs without protection from Israeli forces, according to testimonies by locals.

Ismail Al-Thawabteh, director of the Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza, said that displaced Gazans survive on limited aid, receiving only half a meal every three days. Furthermore, 3,500 children under the age of five are in desperate need of baby formula and food.

The ongoing Israeli blockade and restrictions on the entry of aid have left about two million displaced people in the Gaza Strip in urgent need of help. The WFP has warned that food supplies in the central and southern Gaza Strip are running low, while efforts to deliver humanitarian aid are on the brink of collapse.

Power has been unavailable in the Gaza Strip for over a year, forcing residents to rely on alternatives that fail to meet even their most basic needs and help them keep warm especially on cold winter days.

Kareem Abu Shamala, a 40-year-old employee who is currently displaced in the Nusayrat Refugee Camp, told the Weekly that he does not remember how he relied on electricity before 7 October last year.

“It’s been dark since 7 October. I have got used to living without power. I’m not happy, but I have adapted. I use a torch, and I cook on open flames,” Shamala said.

“Cutting off the power in Gaza was the first thing the Israeli authorities did after the beginning of the war. Some people relied on solar panels and power generators, but the situation became more complicated due to the shortage of fuel.”

The situation for injured Palestinians waiting to evacuate Gaza is increasingly dire. Many are trapped in hospitals or makeshift medical centres with limited resources and lacking essential medical supplies and equipment to treat their wounds.

Due to the ongoing blockade and restrictions imposed by the Israeli Army on movement, the process of transferring patients out of Gaza for treatment in neighbouring countries has been severely hindered. The few border crossings that remain open are overcrowded with those desperately seeking medical care, but the necessary coordination and humanitarian access is often blocked or delayed, according to reports from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Injured individuals, many of whom have suffered life-threatening injuries from airstrikes or shelling, are left in terrible conditions, often waiting days or even weeks for any form of medical evacuation.

The delays and limited access to medical care are worsening, with many facing permanent disability or death. The lack of a safe and timely evacuation process has intensified the suffering of these patients, who are caught in the middle of a conflict with no clear path to recovery.

17-year-old Sara Al-Ewadi was wounded by a bullet fired from an Israeli Quad copter drone in early November. She sustained a serious injury in her right eye, and the rubber bullet used remained in place.

Sara could not undergo life-saving surgery at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah due to the complication of her case and the lack of medical equipment.

“My daughter was wounded in her eye by Israeli fire while she was in our tent in Al-Zawayda. I pray to God that her name appears on the patients’ evacuation list put together by the World Health Organisation as soon as possible,” Sara’s mother said.

“She is a young and innocent girl. I’m afraid she will lose her eyesight. I can’t help her, but the world can,” she added.

Israel’s use of banned weapons in Gaza has revealed a new level of humanitarian crisis and destruction. Munir Al-Bursh, director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, accused Israel of using unknown weapons in the northern Gaza Strip that cause the melting of human bodies and prevents the authorities from putting together an accurate death toll.

According to the Health Ministry, the death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 45,059 deaths and 107,041 injuries since 7 October 2023.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly