Dire Conditions Persist in Gaza Despite Ceasefire Ahead of Winter

The U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect on Oct. 10 also stipulated the expansion of aid deliveries and the alleviation of the humanitarian crisis.

However, with winter drawing near and much of Gaza’s housing stock destroyed, residents are sheltering in tents that fail to meet basic living standards.

“In these conditions, even the minimum standards of human dignity and hygiene are not met,” said Samaher Saeed, protection director at the U.K.-based Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said, “There is no stability, no safety,” referring to the daily reality for displaced Palestinians, Saeed added.

The makeshift tents are constructed from old blankets and scraps of fabric, with nylon sheets tied to metal and wooden poles.

They offer only rudimentary protection from rain, provide no privacy and fail to regulate temperatures during the cold winters and scorching summers. 

“The tents erected at the start of the war have been used for two years and are now completely worn out. They no longer protect people from shrapnel, the summer heat or the winter cold,” Saeed said.

A typical tent covers some 20 square meters and is shared by around 10 people, leaving each person only 2 square meters of space — well below the UNHCR minimum standard of 3.5 square meters per person and the recommended 2-meter height needed for proper ventilation.

Overcrowding, poor sanitation and shortages of food and medicine have turned temporary shelters into breeding grounds for infectious disease.

‘New face of starvation policy’

One of the key provisions of the first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce allowed for 600 trucks of aid to enter Gaza daily. Yet Israel has met neither the quality nor the quantity of aid stipulated.

The number of trucks has remained minimal and the goods that do enter are often not essential supplies.

Officials, merchants and civilians in Gaza said Israel is deliberately restricting aid and attempting to create the illusion that “aid is entering Gaza and starvation has ended.”

Ismail al-Thawabteh, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, said that although they expected 600 trucks a day after the ceasefire, only 145 have been allowed through — just 24 percent of what was agreed upon. 

He added that even the composition of the shipments is inadequate:

“Instead of basic foodstuffs, snacks are prioritized. Rather than flour and oil, we are seeing nuts, biscuits, chocolate and chips. This is the new face of the starvation policy.”

Fadil Sadi Abu Dalal, a Palestinian merchant who owns a supermarket in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, also said that the incoming shipments mostly consist of biscuits, chocolate, soft drinks and coffee — items that provide little benefit to the population — while essential goods are entering only in very limited quantities.