Severe weather has caused more casualties and raised health risks in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. Heavy seasonal rains are making an already dire humanitarian situation worse, as rainstorms cause war-damaged buildings to collapse, flood tents and soak people’s belongings. To respond quickly to flood alerts, a coordinated system bringing together UN agencies and non-governmental organizations is distributing tents, tarpaulins, warm clothes, blankets and dignity kits across Gaza.
The UN and its partners are also bringing in heavy equipment to pump overflowing sewage away from residential areas. OCHA warned that the conditions have raised the risk of hypothermia, especially among babies, as well as illnesses linked to sewage flooding.
Separately, humanitarian teams are helping hundreds of people newly displaced from the At Tufah neighborhood in Gaza City, where ongoing military operations have forced many residents to flee. People who remain in, or have returned to, the As Sanafour area of At Tufah—often because there is no space elsewhere—report major challenges in accessing water, food and basic services.
Relief operations under the UN-coordinated humanitarian plan for the ceasefire are continuing. Between December 23 and 26, partners working on water, sanitation and hygiene sent out tens of thousands of dignity kits, hygiene kits and bottles of shampoo across Gaza, reaching some 150,000 people in need. As of Sunday, partners addressing food insecurity had reached more than one million people—about half of Gaza’s population—through 60 distribution points with December’s monthly general food assistance.
Humanitarian partners also distributed veterinary kits and animal feed to more than 2,000 families with livestock between December 9 and 26, helping support local production and reduce aid dependency.
