GAZA, Palestine

Palestinians in Rafah, who have been enduring intense Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, highlighted the significant challenges they face, particularly for children, as they strive to survive in makeshift tents amid freezing conditions. 

Children in the Gaza Strip, who have been enduring Israeli attacks for four months, struggle to find winter clothes or blankets to cover themselves at night.

Seyyid es-Sevariha was forced to leave his home and now struggles to keep the fire burning in a shelter as he tries to ensure his children do not feel cold.

"Due to the extremely cold weather, we are doing our best to keep our children warm in every possible way,” Sevariha told Anadolu.

He said his family fled from Ez-Zuveyde in central Gaza because of the severe Israeli attacks that destroyed his home and surrounding houses.

Displaced Palestinians, attempting to live in tents despite the cold weather, also face a shortage of beds and blankets.

Sevariha and others occasionally have to give their clothes to their children to keep them warm.  

‘We don't have enough clothes and blankets’

Expressing that the children are very cold, Sevariha said: “My children are suffering from severe cold. We don't have enough clothes and blankets.”

He said they have not received assistance from any organization and noted that they only received a “promise of aid” from the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

“Our conditions are very difficult. Heavy rains exacerbate our troubles. Our tents are flooding. Our children are getting winter illnesses, and they are suffering due to the severity of the cold,” he said.  

Gazan children shivering from cold

“It's very cold here, and there is no way to warm up except by lighting a fire with wood and leaves,” said Beyan el-Uveyti, 11, as she shivered from the cold.

Beyan said his family had to flee from Khan Yunis to Rafah due to Israeli attacks and her family could not take anything with them except the clothes on their backs.

The Palestinian girl who lives in a tent set up in the Zuhur neighborhood in eastern Rafah said: “Our clothes are thin, and the weather is very cold. We were forcibly evacuated from our home without taking anything. We have neither blankets nor clothes with us.”

Husam Ivace, 12, who was forced to leave his home in the Shujaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza, said the tents, made of plastic, were flooded with rainwater and full of holes.

Husam said the tents his family shares with others do not provide warmth, especially at night, which causes distress due to heavy rain and cold.

Israel has killed more than 27,000 victims in the Gaza Strip in response to an Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. The offensive took the lives of 1,200 people and the group captured 240 hostages. The resulting military onslaught by Israle has caused mass displacement and destruction and created conditions for famine.

A temporary truce in November resulted in a seven-day pause in the fighting in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages by Hamas and about 240 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.