Heavy rainstorms swept across the enclave, flooding hundreds of tents, collapsing homes sheltering families displaced by more than two years of war and killing many old and young.

 

Families across the Strip stay awake through the night gripping their tents to keep them from being torn away by strong winds or swept off by flood waters while parents carry children for hours, and at times older children carry younger ones to protect them from drowning.

 

Tents were torn from their stakes, some flying dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. Others lay crumpled in muddy pools as families scrambled to salvage what they could.

 

Many bombed houses, have given way under the weight of heavy rain and strong gale while many who were inside fell and drowned.

 

Ongoing rainstorms are damaging and destroying the fragile shelters, leaving large numbers of displaced people exposed to the cold.

 

Gaza’s population of more than two million is struggling to keep out the cold weather and the winter storms amid shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of substantial temporary housing, which is desperately needed during these freezing winter months.

 

No safe places, all of Gaza is destroyed.

 

More than 90 per cent of Gaza’s population have been displaced repeatedly by the Israeli onslaught on the enclave, which started on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

 

For more than two years dangerous living conditions persist in Gaza after the start of the devastating Israeli bombardment and amid continuing aid shortfalls.

 

Although a ceasefire has been in effect since October 10, 2025, Palestinians still lack the shelter needed to withstand frequent strong winter storms according to aid groups.

 

In a statement, the Gaza government media office said seven children have died since the beginning of the current winter season due to severe cold conditions, bringing the total number of cold-related deaths to 24 as of January 13, 2026.

 

“All the victims were displaced Palestinians living in forced displacement camps,” the statement said, warning of “catastrophic humanitarian consequences” as freezing temperatures return to Gaza amid the continued Israeli onslaught and suffocating blockade, which have caused widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure and forced more than 1.5 million Palestinians into displacement camps lacking the most basic living conditions.

 

The situation poses a serious threat to the lives of the most vulnerable groups, particularly children, citing a near-total absence of heating supplies, lack of safe shelter, and severe shortages of blankets and winter clothing, compounded by ongoing restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, the media office said.

 

Although the White House has announced on January 14,2026, the Gaza ceasefire is moving to phase two, where “demilitarisation, technocratic governance, and reconstruction” will be the focus, most of the goals in Trump’s 20 -point plan that became the basis for a ceasefire in Gaza three months ago never became a reality on the ground.

 

Israel violated the ceasefire agreement at least 1,193 times from Oct. 10, 2025 to January 9, 2026, through the continuation of attacks by air, artillery and direct shootings, the Government Media Office in Gaza reports.

 

While the daily number of Israeli attacks has decreased since the start of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 451 Palestinians and injured 1,251 – an average of nearly five killed every day – since Oct. 10.

 

More than 100 children, including at least 60 boys and 40 girls, are among those killed, according to UNICEF.

 

The ceasefire stipulated that “full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip”, however, the reality on the ground remains very different and Israel continues to restrict aid.

 

According to the Gaza Government Media Office, from October 10, 2025 to January 9, 2026, only 23,019 trucks entered Gaza out of 54,000, averaging 255 trucks per day. That is only 43 per cent of the trucks that were supposed to have been allowed in.

 

In addition, Israel has banned more than three dozen international organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council, CARE International, the International Rescue Committee and several other charities from operating in Gaza, further worsening already dire conditions for Palestinians.

 

Besides, the Rafah crossing, a key lifeline for aid entry, travel, and medical evacuations, and the main border point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, remains closed by Israeli forces.

 

Despite the continuing Israeli attacks and the dangerous situation, the people of Gaza in, US insists that the “ceasefire” is still holding.

 

On its part, UNRWA, the UN Palestinian refugee agency, said in a post on X on Jan 13 that in Gaza, winter weather is adding to the suffering of families already pushed to the brink by over two years of war.

 

"Flooding, cold temperatures, and damaged shelters are exposing displaced people to new risks, while humanitarian access remains severely constrained," it added.

 

The Israeli army has killed more than 71,441 Palestinians most of them women and children, and injured over 171,329 others in a brutal offensive since October 2023 that left the Gaza Strip in ruins.

 

While the storm is a natural event, humanitarian officials argued its lethality is political.

 

James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF currently in Gaza City, confirmed that seven children had died as a result of cold temperatures and stressed that these children did not die merely from the cold but also because a “man-made shortage” of food and medicine has left them with zero resilience.

 

“Children aged two or three have severely weakened immune systems,” Elder said, describing the situation as “extreme misery”.

 

“We are talking about layers upon layers of rejection of aid,” he added, noting that Israel continues to block the entry of cooking gas and fuel needed for heating, leaving families defenseless against winds that weather experts said exceeded 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour).

 

As winter deepens, Gaza’s nights continue to stretch longer, with conditions increasingly deadly for those left exposed and heavy rain is turning Gaza’s life into a constant struggle.