Even though the Israel–Hamas war stopped about a month ago, Palestinians in Gaza are facing the prospect of experiencing winter without stable shelter, limited food, and the spread of communicable diseases.
The ceasefire was supposed to create the conditions for a dramatic surge in humanitarian aid for Gazans in need, but that has yet to come to fruition.
“There is not a massive surge,” Julien Lerisson, the International Red Cross’s Head of Delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories, told the Washington Examiner. “We don’t have yet the surge and the significant increase that we would like to see.”
The Shelter Cluster, which is co-chaired by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the United Nations refugee agency, estimated earlier this month that at least 259,000 Palestinian families, or approximately 1.5 million people in Gaza, do not have adequate protection ahead of winter.
“What we are fearing, what we’ve seen, it’s always the same, is that many people put their tents and their shelter wherever they can, often in lowlands, and those are areas and territory that are prone to flooding, and so they might have all their belongings washed away,” Lerisson said.
Much of the infrastructure in Gaza was destroyed during the two years of war between Israel and Hamas, which also resulted in the killing of more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, though the total does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
“Over the weekend, our humanitarian partners distributed nearly 40,000 winter clothing kits and pairs of shoes to children under 10,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Monday. “The U.N. and our partners are also distributing blankets to hospitals and other locations — including nearly 50,000 blankets between Wednesday and Saturday alone.”
“Efforts to ramp up aid are still being held back by red tape, ongoing bans on key humanitarian partners, too few crossings and routes, and insecurity that persists despite the ceasefire,” Haq said.
There are also fears about sanitation in Gaza, which risks the spread of communicable diseases. Vaccination rates decreased during the war as well.
“People are sometimes living literally next to sewage and to waste water, and so here comes communicable disease, water-borne disease,” Lerisson continued. “People are drinking unsafe water. So, it’s all those elements that are coming with the winter that we really need collectively to search, to address, and prevent.”
Israel strictly controls what enters Gaza because the enclave is bounded by the Jewish State on two sides, the Mediterranean Sea, and Egypt. Earlier this year, during the war, Israel opted to cut off aid to Gaza as a pressure tactic to force Hamas to surrender and give up the hostages.
Israel does not allow equipment into Gaza that it believes could be used militarily by Hamas or other jihadi groups, even though it’s not intended for such purposes. Goods that meet that criteria are referred to as “dual-use” supplies.
A spokesperson for UNICEF said on Tuesday that Israel has disallowed syringes and refrigerators needed for their vaccination campaign in Gaza over “dual-use” concerns.
“Both the syringes and the … refrigerators are considered dual-use by Israel, and these items we’re finding very hard to get them through clearances and inspections, yet they are urgent,” UNICEF spokesman Ricardo Pires said.
UNICEF, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and the World Health Organization announced last week that they would conduct a major immunization campaign with the goal of reaching 44,000 children to make up for the two years of war, during which vaccination rates dropped significantly.
They will be administering three doses of Pentavalent, Polio, Rota and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and a two-dose Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine.
“This immunization campaign is a lifeline, protecting children’s health and restoring hope for the future,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Palestinian territories. “It’s a crucial step in strengthening essential health services and protecting vulnerable children in Gaza who have been cut off for far too long. Yet this is only one piece of the puzzle. Much more is needed, and WHO is working to rebuild Gaza’s fragile health system so every child, every community, can access the care they deserve.”
UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE WILL LONG THREATEN GAZANS DESPITE TENUOUS CEASEFIRE
The statement from the humanitarian groups said that vaccination rates before the war were around 98% for children. After two years of war, that rate has dropped below 70%.
Another major concern for Palestinians, unrelated to the impending winter conditions, is the thousands of unexploded ordnance, which are weapons like artillery shells, grenades, and bombs that failed to detonate as normal, but can still be triggered incidentally. Unexploded ordnance poses risks to civilians long after a conflict ends, and Gaza is no different.
It will take years for all of the unexploded ordnance to be found and safely disposed of in Gaza, and until that happens, they can pose environmental risks.