ISTANBUL

Unhindered humanitarian aid, including medical support and adequate shelter, is essential to help families in the Gaza Strip withstand the winter, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday, as heavy rains worsen already dire living conditions driven by a two-year Israeli genocide.

Winter storms are flooding streets and soaking makeshift tents across the enclave, creating “new hardships” for displaced people living in overcrowded and unsanitary sites, the agency said through US social media company X.

“Flooded streets and soaked tents are making already dire living conditions even more dangerous,” the agency said, warning that cold, damp, and unhygienic environments significantly increase the risk of illness and infection.

The agency said the suffering is preventable, stressing that the ability to deliver assistance without obstruction would allow its teams to provide proper shelter and critical medical services.

“That would help families face winter in safety and dignity,” the agency said.

The Gaza government media office said Tuesday that Israel had only allowed in around 38% of the agreed-upon aid under the ceasefire deal, exacerbating the suffering of civilians.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians across the enclave were flooded for the second consecutive day after heavy overnight rainfall linked to a new winter storm.

Gaza’s Civil Defense said in a statement Thursday that it evacuated dozens of tents in Rafah, in the south, after they were completely submerged.

The agency’s spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, warned Wednesday that more than 250,000 families in displacement camps across the enclave are vulnerable to cold weather and rainwater in their worn-out tents.

On Tuesday, the media office warned that a polar low-pressure system would affect the enclave starting Wednesday and lasting until Friday evening, threatening hundreds of thousands of displaced families.

Since Wednesday, thousands of tents housing survivors of Israel’s war have turned into pools of water, soaking bedding, clothing, and food supplies, and leaving hundreds of Palestinian families exposed to the cold without warmth or shelter.

According to prior data from the media office, Gaza needs around 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after Israel destroyed infrastructure over two years of war.

The UN estimates the cost of reconstructing Gaza at about $70 billion as a result of the Israeli war, which has killed more than 70,300 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000. The assault came to a halt under a ceasefire deal that took effect on Oct. 10.