“Winter’s Crime”: 1.5 million displaced people in Gaza are left to die from cold and disease in muddy tents.

“Winter’s Crime”: 1.5 million displaced people in Gaza are left to die from cold and disease in muddy tents.

The Entesaf Organization strongly condemns the tragic humanitarian catastrophe afflicting more than 1.5 million displaced people in the Gaza Strip. Their fragile shelters have become a new source of death and suffering with the onset of heavy rains and severe cold. The plight of these forcibly displaced civilians is a direct result of the ongoing siege and the denial of entry of essential shelter materials, exacerbating their tragedy and placing them in a double predicament: the danger of bombardment and the danger of freezing and disease.

The organization emphasizes that the conditions of displacement constitute a grave violation of civilians’ right to shelter and protection. Thousands of tents have been transformed into pools of mud and water, damaging blankets and clothing, leaving families and children without effective shelter. The mixing of rainwater with sewage is catastrophically increasing the spread of diseases and epidemics, particularly among children already suffering from malnutrition and weakened immune systems. The Israeli enemy’s prevention of the entry of safe shelter materials, winter clothing and blankets, and heating supplies is a punitive act and deliberate neglect that intensifies the suffering. Humanity.

The organization calls upon the international community and its humanitarian institutions to assume their historical and moral responsibility towards the displaced people in Gaza by immediately lifting the siege and opening the crossings to allow the entry of urgent winter shelter materials. It also calls for the provision of prefabricated shelter units (caravans) that can protect the displaced from harsh weather conditions.

The organization further demands the launch of rapid and intensive medical campaigns to provide care and treatment for diseases spreading due to the cold and contaminated water.

The organization emphasizes that every day of delay in responding to this catastrophe increases the number of innocent victims, including women and children, who are paying the price for the international community’s failure to protect them.

Issued by the Entesaf Organization for Women and Child Rights, Sana’a

November 16, 2025