Gaza: 94 percent of households need shelter aid | Report

An estimated 1.98 million Palestinians in Gaza, 94 percent of the population, need shelter and basic household assistance, according to a press release from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The findings come from a new report by the Shelter Cluster, which NRC leads. Published on August 20, 2026, the report exposes a shelter crisis extending far beyond physical damage. More than four in five households face Critical or Catastrophic living conditions in their current shelter. The assessment highlights severe gaps in the resources families need to live safely and with dignity.

The Palestine Shelter Cluster coordinates humanitarian organizations addressing shelter needs across Gaza and the West Bank. The assessment draws on 1,951 household interviews conducted between 14 and 28 June 2026 in accessible areas of North Gaza, Gaza, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Younis. Rafah and other inaccessible or unsafe areas were excluded from the survey. The findings arrive ten months after the October 2025 ceasefire. Most families have now spent more than a year in shelters never designed for long-term accommodation.

Only one in ten households received shelter or basic household assistance in the month before data collection in June 2026. By then, stocks of tents, blankets, and mattresses inside Gaza had nearly run out. Restrictions on the entry of shelter materials and equipment, combined with funding shortfalls, have kept assistance far below the level of need. Nearly two-thirds of households lived in tents or makeshift shelters, and more than half of those in tents had used the same one for over a year. More than 100,000 households live in shelters that pose serious risks to their health, safety, or dignity.

“A shelter is not adequate simply because it has four walls or a roof,” said Jehan Salim, National Shelter Cluster Coordinator. “Families need to be able to sleep, cook, wash and keep their children safe inside it.”

Ninety-eight percent of households reported at least one environmental hazard within 10 meters of where they lived, including rodents, stray dogs, solid waste, rubble, or sewage. Rodents were reported inside 89 percent of shelters. Seventy-one percent of households had experienced flooding since the start of winter 2025–26.

Additional findings show that 71 percent of households experienced sleeping difficulties, 64 percent could not adequately store sufficient food and water, and 61 percent lacked sufficient personal hygiene items. Households with seven or more members and those including a person with a disability each had around twice the odds of severe shelter need. The Shelter Cluster calls on donor states to press Israel to lift restrictions on the entry of tents, repair and construction materials, fuel, solar equipment, water-storage items, and machinery needed for debris clearance. It also urges funding that reflects the scale and severity of the crisis. With another winter approaching, families remain dangerously exposed to rain, cold, and flooding.