{"id":314018,"date":"2025-12-08T14:30:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=314018"},"modified":"2025-12-26T14:43:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T19:43:44","slug":"wfp-lessons-from-the-rains-call-for-unfettered-access-to-tackle-winter-hunger-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/wfp-lessons-from-the-rains-call-for-unfettered-access-to-tackle-winter-hunger-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"WFP: Lessons from the rains: Call for unfettered access to tackle winter hunger in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
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8 December 2025<\/p>\n
Food insecurity remains severe as the World Food Programme urges easing of restrictions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Gaza City. Najat stands outside her tent, flooded after heavy rain overwhelmed a nearby sewage system, destroying many of her possessions. Photo: WFP\/Maxime Lelijour<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Winterization \u2013 preparatory actions to get people through the cold months \u2013 is the next urgent challenge for humanitarian organizations in Gaza, said Kate Newton, Deputy Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Palestine.<\/div>\n
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Since October\u2019s ceasefire agreement conditions have improved \u2013 the risk of famine is currently reducing in Gaza, but varied and fresh food sources are still in short supply while scale and consistency are sorely lacking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need full, unfettered humanitarian access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Food, medical supplies and tents are not making their way into the territory in sufficient amounts amid fears that continued fighting, in spite of the announced ceasefire, may result in another blockade.<\/p>\n
That prospect is unthinkable in a context where 56 percent of people do not have sufficient access to drinking water and 72 percent of people use improvised toilets. In addition to malnutrition, children face respiratory infections, diarrhoea, and skin diseases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have all the issues that we\u2019ve been talking about for months and months \u2013 the logistical challenges, the fact we\u2019re very limited in terms of the number of roads we can use, that we still have a very high level of insecurity, that bureaucratic processes are still impeding humanitarian delivery,\u201d said Newton.<\/p>\n
Rains in mid-November affected 13,000 families \u2013 a warning shot with weather set to worsen during winter. Photo: WFP\/Maxime Lelijour<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Meanwhile, \u201canything that\u2019s considered a \u2018dual-use\u2019 item\u201d such as \u201ctents with aluminium frames and mobile storage units \u2026 items that are just essential inputs for basic rehabilitation of infrastructure to help the recovery effort \u2026 we can\u2019t bring in, even spare parts for our trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Insufficient security remains a problem, too, as it allows looting to persist. \u201cIt\u2019s still a difficult, dangerous thing, just delivering food into Gaza,\u201d said Newton.<\/p>\n
In a sign of a deepening crisis during the winter, heavy rains in mid-November released sewage out of dugout drains, making life next to impossible for communities of displaced people living in tents along the coastline \u2013 around 13,000 households were affected, according to\u00a0OCHA.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the population have been displaced from their homes, access to basic necessities and basic services is limited and sometimes non-existent. And obviously bad weather makes that much worse,\u201d said Newton. With worse weather possibly around the corner, \u201cthis is a moment to remind the broader community that we really do need to accelerate the pace at which we can get in more shelter, more food items, in addition to all the food.\u201d<\/p>\n
While \u201cWFP is working with partners to try to deliver everything in advance of the winter, trying to make sure that people have blankets and clothes and mattresses and anything they need,\u201d she added, \u201cthe conditions are just pretty awful.\u201d<\/p>\n
These challenges play out in the lives of families who have already lost almost everything.\u00a0Below are two voices from displaced families in Gaza City, to whom WFP supplied sandbags, recalling the rains in mid-November.<\/p>\n
Hadeer<\/strong><\/h3>\n
‘All our things were drenched with water’. Photo: WFP\/Video still<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
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They were warning us that a new storm was coming. We secured the tent as much as we could, tightened it down. We spread rugs, mats, everything so it would hold up for the winter. We put barrels around it so the rain wouldn\u2019t get in. But we were shocked by how strong the wind was.<\/em><\/p>\n
Strong winds came and blew everything away. We couldn\u2019t stay inside the tent. Our clothes got soaked, everything we owned got soaked. The kids\u2019 clothes \u2013 everything got wet, and we couldn\u2019t stay there. We left the tent until the wind calmed down and waited for the sun to rise.<\/em><\/p>\n
The wind was dragging us \u2013 me and my children \u2013 pulling us. The sand blew into our eyes; we couldn\u2019t handle it, truly we couldn\u2019t.<\/em> \nAt some point I felt like I had to sit down inside the tent, but we ended up running out. All the blankets were soaked. Our food and firewood \u2013 everything.<\/em><\/p>\n
My daughters\u2019 clothes \u2013 these clothes they\u2019re wearing now \u2013 everything got drenched. All our things were filled with water. We left and went to my brother\u2019s place for a bit, until the rain eased and we could dry some of our belongings and go back to the tent.<\/em><\/p>\n
We couldn\u2019t cook. We ended up eating just bread with za\u2019atar because we had nothing to burn for cooking. All of our food turned into liquid.\u00a0At night, you find the children freezing from the cold, from the wind and the chill. My son gets diarrhoea, vomiting\u2026 ever since we arrived here two months ago, he hasn\u2019t recovered once.<\/em><\/p>\n
It\u2019s extremely cold. We\u2019re in a kind of basin \u2013 the sea surrounds us from three sides. There\u2019s nothing in front of us to protect us from the wind or the cold.<\/em><\/p>\n
My tent is broken. I kept telling myself it would survive the winter. We\u2019ve had it from the beginning of the war. It\u2019s torn from all the moving around. What can we do? This is our life.<\/em><\/p>\n
Nayeb<\/strong><\/h3>\n
When I first arrived here, they sent me a message about a coupon and told me to go to Khan Younis. That was when I first arrived, but I couldn\u2019t go because of the situation and the costs. After about two weeks or maybe a month, they sent me a box with rice and lentils. Other than that, I haven\u2019t received anything.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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‘The money I get goes to paying debts’. Photo: \u00a0WFP\/Maxime Le Lijour<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
All the supplies are ruined, and the mattresses are damaged. Nothing is left. As you can see, the winter came with heavy rain, flooding everything. The mattresses, blankets, and food supplies like flour \u2013 all soaked and gone. Honestly, I have no means. I have no one. It\u2019s just me, my wife, and my children. Right now, the situation is very hard. We are five people \u2013 three kids and my wife.<\/em><\/p>\n
Since October 7 until today, I\u2019ve been living in a tent, suffering with my children, moving from place to place. This tent I got from someone. I\u2019ve suffered enough. Two or three years now, and still the same struggle. I keep moving from one place to another, trying to find land to put my belongings on \u2013 maybe 13 times altogether. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
From the Shati\u2019 Camp to Sheikh Radwan, to Al-Shifa, to the north, to Jabalia Camp, to Old Gaza, then to tents, then to Khan Younis, then to Al-Qarara, then to Asdaa, then back again where people kicked us out, then to Hamad, and finally to Rafah. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
Even now, I\u2019m still paying off displacement costs. It\u2019s all debt upon debt. I\u2019ve been humiliated just to keep my kids safe from danger. Every time I settle, they tell me to leave. I don\u2019t know where to stay or where to go. It\u2019s all chaos \u2013 nothing changed except that the suffering continues.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
Here, on the mattress on the ground, I\u2019ll lay it out and sleep on it. This place hasn\u2019t been safe for three years. Tonight won\u2019t make a difference. I\u2019ve gotten used to this life, unfortunately.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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