Said Alsaloul & Ohood Nassar
The New Arab / January 5, 2026
Israel’s blockade & war in Gaza have made winter lethal, as children freeze in tents & homes collapse under heavy rain On December 12, 2025 as a severe storm struck Gaza, three children lost their lives to the cold.
Rahaf Abu Jazar was eight months old, Hadeel Hamdan was nine and Taim al-Khawaja was an infant. They did not die from bombs or bullets, but from the harshness of winter.
While Israel’s war machine has eased, the aftermath of the past two years of relentless attacks has left Gaza’s infrastructure decimated, worsening every aspect of life and creating new silent threats.
The children who died were displaced after their home was bombed, and had been living in tents. But these tents don’t retain any warmth, no matter what you do the cold creeps in, turning tiny lips blue in the night. There are also no gas or electric heaters to reduce the cold temperatures.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans are now living in flimsy tents that are neither waterproof nor able to stand against the winds. Meanwhile, others, with nowhere else to go, have taken refuge in their half-shattered houses.
Their deaths are not isolated tragedies due to weather. They are the direct, predictable result of a man-made disaster where every natural challenge becomes a lethal event.
Two years of war have left Gaza’s infrastructure—homes, hospitals, electricity, water and sanitation networks—decimated. According to UN estimates, over 60% of all homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Furthermore, amidst the fragile ceasefire which paused the bombardment, nothing has been done to lift the blockade that prevents reconstruction.
In the face of all of this, and with the season of rain upon us, it feels like a cruel shockwave has swept a population already on the brink.
No natural accidents
The storm caused fear even among residents living in cement houses, where walls, already cracked and weakened by two years of relentless conflict, threatened to collapse at any moment. Dozens of these damaged homes fell, claiming the lives of residents who had believed their homes to be safer and warmer than tents.
Experts have emphasised that these are not natural accidents, but delayed consequences of the prolonged bombardment Gaza has endured. And the recent rainstorm acted as the final, fatal trigger for these compromised structures.
Both the harsh cold and the collapsed structures took the lives of 14 people in just 72 hours last month.
Among the victims were five members of the Badran family, whose home collapsed on them in the Bir al-Naja area of Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza. And several members of the Nassar family in Gaza City were also injured from similar incidents.
A curse
The heavy rainfall also brought on during the winter has caused much chaos. In some areas, mere seconds of heavy rain have been enough to raise water levels meters high. People have been flooded in their shelters, leaving them completely helpless.
The obliterated sanitation network and water infrastructure due to Israel’s attacks for over two years have gravely aggravated the problem by leaving no remaining drainage network to channel the floodwaters. From the war’s outset, water infrastructure was systematically targeted. Wells, pipelines, and desalination plants lie in ruins.
In November, the Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital (PFBS) in Gaza City flooded due to heavy rainfall and damaged infrastructure. The entire children’s ward was impacted. Civil defence officials stated they were unable to provide assistance due to a lack of equipment and the Israeli blockade.
Rainwater also flooded Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital, and the Kuwait Speciality Hospital in Khan Younis. Places for healing patients turned into a battleground with nature for staff.
This is the new, brutal winter in Gaza. The blessing of rain has been turned into a curse. How can those living in flimsy tents be expected to endure this?
A ceasefire with no mercy
For us Gazans, this ceasefire has taught us that whilst survival is now possible, recovery is not.
The continued blockade has worsened the situation for us. There is not a single concrete block to build a wall, nor is there a sack of cement to bind the blocks. The sand and gravel trucks have been banned from entering Gaza for more than two years.
Despite over two months of the ceasefire being in place, Israel still refuses to allow construction materials and heavy construction vehicles to enter Gaza for rebuilding.
The US-backed plan declared this period would see a second phase of reconstruction, yet such promises have been stalled, and the people continue to suffer as a consequence.
Millions are still displaced, many in tents waiting for their houses to be rebuilt—no schools, no universities, no houses, no gas, no electricity, and a compromised water infrastructure. Any fleeting hope for recovery is crushed by this political reality.
Winter was once the season for family gatherings, circling the fire, roasting chestnuts and warming our hands. But that was not the case for Gazans since Israel’s war, not even during the ‘ceasefire’.
The period only delivers flooding, disease, and hypothermia to people with no walls for shelter and no earth to absorb the water. Winter has been weaponised by the occupation to inflict more pain, suffering and loss.
Said Alsaloul is a writer and ESL trainer (languages) from Gaza
Ohood Nassar is a translator and content writer from Gaza
