Gaza Families Face Perilous Winter: Cold, Displacement, and a Lack of Essentials

In Gaza City, as night falls and temperatures plummet, Amira Saad, a 27-year-old mother, grapples with keeping her four-month-old baby, Mohammed, warm. The infant is clad in thin summer clothes, and Amira has had to borrow winter garments from a neighbor, a temporary solution that does little to ease her nightly worries. Her family of 18, including nine children, resides in a makeshift shelter under a tarp that offers scant protection from the harsh elements. The challenge of finding adequate warm clothing and blankets for everyone has intensified.

Displaced from Gaza City’s Shujayea neighborhood during Israel’s ongoing war, the family now lives in a camp west of the city. Recent heavy rains have inundated their shelter, soaking mattresses, pillows, and blankets. “We were flooded while we were sleeping. The water came inside and soaked our blankets, mattresses and pillows. Everything was wet,” Amira recounted. The children are mostly dressed in old, torn summer clothes. Amira’s mother-in-law, 60-year-old Basima Saad, is also concerned about her disabled 23-year-old daughter, who requires warm clothing and medication. “Her hands become as cold as ice. I keep her beside me in bed to warm her, just as I would a small child,” Basima said, emphasizing her priority: “I dress her before I dress myself. I have to make sure she is warm first.”

With no steady income, the family depends on community kitchens for food, leaving no spare funds for winter necessities. “My husband does not have a job. Two days ago, he went out to work breaking up rubble, but he broke his hand. The situation is very bad, and the cold is extremely severe,” Amira added. Hundreds of thousands in Gaza are similarly housed in makeshift shelters, displaced by the war and struggling against the winter weather.

The peril faced by those in these conditions, especially the very young, is starkly real. On Thursday, a nine-month-old baby, Kinan Ahmed Raqiq, died of hypothermia, his father reporting he found his son's skin turned blue. Such tragedies fuel the fears of Amal al-Maydana, a 46-year-old mother of seven. Displaced six times from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, she is raising her children alone after her husband Hamza was killed in January 2025 and her eldest son Haitham in November 2025. Living in a tent, Amal struggles to provide for her children, whose younger daughters, Rimas and Malak, still wear summer clothes. “Everything is expensive… children’s clothes, shoes, everything,” she lamented. Rainwater seeps through their damaged tarpaulins, and with no heating, they rely solely on blankets. “We have no means of heating ourselves; we just cover the children with blankets,” Amal stated, fearing further storms. “We just pray that God makes this winter easier for the people living in tents.”

Humanitarian aid is falling short as winter risks escalate. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that 94 percent of Gaza’s population requires urgent shelter assistance, with 65 percent living in tents or makeshift shelters. Some 650,000 children need winter aid, yet by September, aid agencies had secured enough winter clothing for only 9,000 households and bedding for 50,000. OCHA cites funding shortages as a major impediment to winter preparations. UNICEF has warned of increased risks of hypothermia and respiratory infections for children in Gaza, with at least 11 children having died from hypothermia last winter, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. UNICEF is seeking $97.5 million for its 2026-2027 winter response. Recent rains have exacerbated the crisis, affecting over 106,000 people, with 950,000 displaced Palestinians in flood-prone areas. The ongoing war has devastated homes and livelihoods, displacing nearly two million people. Unemployment and rising prices make basic necessities unaffordable, leaving families struggling to protect their children from the cold.

In Gaza City’s Rimal market, shop owner Mohammed Abu Shanar observes the widespread struggle. Customers inquire about winter clothing prices but often leave without purchasing due to high costs. Mohammed sells only four to six winter tracksuits daily, noting that many children from nearby camps still wear lightweight clothing. He attributes the high prices to shortages caused by Israeli restrictions and the cost of wholesale stock. “First, there is a shortage of goods. The wholesalers hold on to their prices, and the merchandise is expensive for us, too. If these items were selling for 20 shekels ($6.25) or 25 shekels ($7.80) instead of 40 shekels ($12.60) or 50 shekels ($15.70), perhaps people would be able to buy them,” he explained. Mohammed has invested heavily in winter stock but has recovered minimal sales.

Anas Hamad, displaced from Beit Hanoun, exemplifies the hardship. Formerly a supermarket owner, the war destroyed his business and left him and his brothers unemployed. Unable to afford new clothes, Anas relies on second-hand markets and hand-me-downs for his three children. His five-year-old daughter, Jana, recently asked for a new shirt, only to be given one that belonged to her brother. Their tent, lived in for two years, is badly torn, with rainwater entering from above and below, soaking their belongings. Anas’s three-year-old child shivers from the cold, and the sound of rain frightens the children. “I have to choose between buying food for my children, getting them warm clothes and blankets, or buying tarpaulins to protect our tent from the coming rain,” he stated, overwhelmed by the impossible choices.