In her family’s shelter, the ground is soaked and her children cannot sleep.
“Our situation is extremely difficult, and we want someone to help us, at least by providing us with a tent that shelters us and is a proper tent,” Amina told the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) earlier this week.
Millions of others like Amina, who are threatened by rain, flooding and ongoing bombing, need life-saving aid.
A recent Israeli ban on dozens of humanitarian groups, however, makes that assistance out of reach. A move which a group of independent UN human rights experts warned on Thursday is a violation of international law.
“This strategy will create conditions that force Palestinians into chronic deprivation, threatening their very survival as a group and further violating the Genocide Convention,” the experts said. “It must be stopped.”
Green light for US Gaza peace plan
Later on Thursday, in a statement released by his Spokesperson, Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the launch of Phase Two of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, announced Wednesday.
The plan includes the establishment of a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
“Any initiative that contributes to alleviating the suffering of civilians, supporting recovery and reconstruction and advancing a credible political horizon is a positive development,” the statement read.
Mr. Guterres highlighted that the UN will continue to support all efforts to end the occupation and the conflict leading to the achievement of the two-State solution, in line with previous UN resolutions and international law.
‘Uninhabitable’ shelters
OCHA said that 800,000 people — nearly 40 percent of the population — now live in sites prone to flooding, where winter storms and heavy rain have made shelters uninhabitable.
As of Tuesday, UN partners reported that hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters were blown away or severely damaged, leaving over 3,000 people exposed to severe weather, while more than 60 inhabited buildings in Gaza City could be at risk of collapse.
Prohibited waters
OCHA noted that the Israeli military is still deployed in more than half of the Gaza Strip, beyond the “Yellow Line”, where access is either restricted or banned to aid facilities, public infrastructure and agricultural land.
Detonations of residential buildings have continued, along with bulldozer activity, OCHA said, including near or east of the “Yellow Line”.
Additionally, access to the sea for Palestinians remains prohibited and there continue to be reports of Palestinian fishermen being killed or detained in the waters just off Gaza.
Millions worth of aid blocked
Announced as a national security measure on 30 December 2025, Israel’s new regulation bans 37 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating in Gaza and the West Bank.
As of 31 December, nearly $50 million in life-saving aid remained blocked amid repeated ceasefire violations, according to the group of Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts. They are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work.
In early December, UN agencies and NGOs were only able to deliver 14,600 tents for 85,000 people, leaving 1.3 million Palestinians without adequate winter shelter.
Several people, including six children, have already died from hypothermia, drowning, or cold-related injuries.
“There are no words left to describe what Gaza has become,” the experts said.
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