“The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that some 55,000 families across Gaza have been affected so far by the recent rains, and that their properties and shelters have been damaged or destroyed by the storm,” said Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, during a press conference held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
He noted that storms and rain also damaged dozens of child-friendly spaces in Gaza, disrupting child protection activities and affecting some 30,000 children across the Strip.
Haq also warned that ongoing Israeli obstacles continue to hinder humanitarian aid organizations' efforts to expand their intervention more quickly in the sector.
For its part, the Civil Defense Authority in the Gaza Strip warned on Wednesday of a severe cold wave threatening the lives of children, in light of the lack of shelter and heating, as the humanitarian repercussions of the two-year Israeli war of extermination continue.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said in a statement that "temperatures drop significantly during the night hours."
Basal warned that "the bitter cold threatens the lives of young children due to the lack of shelter and heating." He added, "What we are experiencing now in Gaza is a true humanitarian catastrophe. Save the children of Gaza before the cold claims them."
In a related development, the United Nations and aid organizations warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly in Gaza, are at risk of collapse if Israel does not remove obstacles, including "problematic, arbitrary, and highly politicized" registration processes.
The UN and more than 200 local and international aid organizations said in a joint statement that dozens of international aid organizations are at risk of having their registrations revoked by December 31, meaning they would have to close their operations within 60 days.
The statement read, "The revocation of the registrations of international NGOs (international aid organizations) in Gaza would have a catastrophic impact on the delivery of essential and critical services."
The statement added that "international non-governmental organizations operate or support the majority of field hospitals and primary healthcare centers, and are responsible for responding to urgent requests for shelter, water and sanitation services, centers concerned with ensuring stable nutrition for children suffering from acute malnutrition, and critical activities related to dealing with mines."
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the sector are suffering from harsh living conditions, after their homes were destroyed and they were forcibly displaced, amid a severe shortage of blankets and heating supplies, and a widespread deterioration in humanitarian conditions with the onset of winter.
During December, the storms caused the death of 17 Palestinians, including 4 children, due to the cold, and the collapse of 17 homes, and the flooding of about 90% of the shelters for displaced people whose homes were destroyed by Israel, according to the Civil Defense.
According to the same source, more than 17 residential buildings were completely destroyed, while more than 90 other buildings suffered serious partial collapses, "posing a direct threat to the lives of thousands of citizens."
This suffering comes amid Israel’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on October 10, and its humanitarian protocol, including the entry of shelter materials and 300,000 tents and mobile homes, as repeatedly confirmed by the Government Media Office in Gaza.
The Israeli war of extermination in Gaza, which began on October 8, 2023 with American support and lasted for two years, left more than 70,000 martyrs and more than 171,000 wounded, most of them children and women, and destruction that affected 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure.
