Nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced in the Gaza Strip are facing a major crisis as winter begins, with growing threats of hunger and severe flooding. According to reports by UN News, heavy rainfall has already flooded hundreds of tents sheltering displaced people. Meanwhile, due to a severe funding shortage, the World Food Programme (WFP) has significantly reduced food assistance for millions of people.
Around 9,500,000 displaced people in Gaza are living in low-lying areas and places filled with rubble, where there is a moderate to high risk of flooding. More than 400,000 people are living in areas at extremely high risk of flooding.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), essential relief supplies such as waterproof materials for tents, timber, tarpaulins and sandbags are not reaching Gaza on time because of Israeli restrictions. People displaced by the conflict are being forced to fill empty flour bags with sand and use them to build temporary barriers against floodwater as they struggle to survive hunger.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has stopped providing monthly food assistance to around 500,000 people in Gaza because of a severe funding shortage. The total number of people receiving food assistance has fallen from 1.6 million to just 1.1 million.