A humanitarian disaster unfolding: Gaza flooded, freezing, and cut off from aid

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, warned that as a powerful winter storm hits Gaza, Palestinians have been left alone—freezing and hungry.

This comes two months after a ceasefire that has been repeatedly violated by the Israeli regime, while shelter assistance remains largely blocked.

Albanese’s remarks followed a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which stated that due to ongoing restrictions on humanitarian access, only a small amount of shelter materials has entered Gaza.

According to the NRC, aid organizations have been able to bring in only 15,600 tents for roughly 88,000 people, while 1.29 million Palestinians still need shelter before winter. International organizations say they are still unable to bring in heavy machinery, tools, and other data-x-items needed to reinforce camps ahead of flooding.

The warning coincides with the arrival of Storm Byron (a severe weather system), which is currently causing widespread flooding in displacement zones. Humanitarian organizations estimate that 761 sites—housing around 850,000 people—are at risk. Many of these sites lie in low-lying or coastal areas where previous storms filled tents with sewage and solid waste.

Albanese wrote in a message: “Palestinians in Gaza have literally been left alone—freezing and hungry.”

The Special Rapporteur added that the world has failed to stop this nightmare for a population that has been pushed into catastrophic conditions since the Israeli regime began its campaign of extermination.

Shelter crisis

Albanese, an international lawyer appointed in 2022 as the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, has been one of the most outspoken UN officials on the Gaza crisis.

She has repeatedly stated that the Israeli regime is committing genocide—a conclusion she detailed extensively in a report presented earlier this year to the UN General Assembly titled “The Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime.”

Humanitarian organizations say the current situation violates the obligations of the Israeli regime under international law.

Storm Byron is expected to continue affecting Gaza in the coming days, raising concerns that if aid is not permitted to enter, already vulnerable displaced people and flooded camps could face even worse conditions.

Death of a second Palestinian infant in Gaza due to cold

A second Palestinian infant has died from the severe cold brought by the powerful storm sweeping across Gaza.

Earlier, a young girl whose family had been displaced by the Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza died from exposure to the winter cold, as Storm Byron hit the besieged territory amid ongoing restrictions imposed by the occupiers on essential winter supplies.

According to Reuters, Rahaf Abu Jazar, an eight-month-old baby, died after her family’s tent in Khan Younis was flooded following heavy rain and widespread flooding in tent camps across the besieged area.

As hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families shelter in flimsy tents under harsh winter conditions, Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency received more than 2,500 calls for assistance within 24 hours.

The agency also reported that three buildings in Gaza City collapsed due to the storm.