The UN has warned that almost all of Gaza’s population, about two million people, is still without adequate housing before the arrival of winter, requiring access to humanitarian aid delivery.
© Lusa
09/10/2026
by
Lusa
A almost all of Gaza's population, about two million people, remains without adequate accommodation before the arrival of winter, today warned the UN, demanding access to humanitarian aid delivery.
Nearly 1.8 million of Gaza’s nearly two million Palestinians “prepared to face a fourth winter without adequate protection from rain, flooding and cold,” said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The situation occurs one year after the announcement of the October 2025 ceasefire, between the Palestinian extremist group Hamas and Israel, noted the UN specialized agency.
“ The materials needed for shelters should be able to enter quickly, predictablely and in sufficient quantity” in the territory, warned IOM Director General Amy Pope, quoted in a statement.
IOM warned of “the lack of funding and persistent restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities on the entry of material essential to shelters”.
According to IOM, more than half of the tents and shelters currently in use are in poor condition and need to be replaced.
The tents are designed as a temporary emergency measure and usually only last between six and 12 months, it has.
“ In the absence of alternatives, many families live in war-damaged buildings that present serious risks to their safety,” said the organization, quoted by the French agency AFP.
In September, 21 people died in Gaza City after the collapse of a six-story building that had been hit during the conflict.
Twelve of the victims were children, recalled the IOM.
IOM also warned that the intensification of the climate phenomenon El Niño must “provoking more abundant rainfall”.
Rains may “fragile even more precarious buildings, while severely damaged drainage systems expose the population to floods”.
In the context of a fall in humanitarian aid funding, “the combined supply capacities of humanitarian partners cover very little 17% of the winter needs,” Pope said.
The IOM has reported that it has aid equipment stored outside Gaza ready to be delivered that remains blocked due to a lack of access to crossing points by the Israeli authorities.
The equipment includes tents, emergency shelter kits, accommodation units, wood, tools and other materials.
Humanitarian teams use locally available or recycled materials, where possible, but these efforts “continue to be insufficient to meet considerable housing needs,” the IOM warned.
At the beginning of September, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the precarious conditions in which the inhabitants of Gaza live made fear of worsening health risks as the rainy season approached.
Under current conditions in the Gaza Strip, the rainy season is conducive to the development of pests, mosquitoes, molds and bacteria, according to WHO.
Much of the Palestinian enclave was destroyed during the Israeli offensive following the attack of the Palestinian group in Israel on 7 October 2023.