Albanese Warns Palestinians ‘Left Alone, Freezing’ as Israel Restricts Shelter Supplies

December 11, 2025 News
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanese. (via UN website)

 The Norwegian Refugee Council reported that “only a trickle of shelter supplies” has entered Gaza, two months after the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has warned that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “are literally left alone, freezing and starving in the winter storm” that has ravaged the besieged enclave.

“I keep asking how we became such monsters, uncapable of stopping this nightmare. For them, for us, for whatever remains of the people in whose name this genocide is being committed,” Albanese stated on X on Wednesday.

Her statement comes after the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that “only a trickle of shelter supplies” has entered Gaza, two months after the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect.

“Due to severe restrictions, UN and international aid organisations have only been able to bring in 15,600 tents for 88,000 people, while 1.29 million still need shelter to survive the winter,” the humanitarian organization said on X.

Shelter Materials Blocked

At least 761 sites hosting around 850,000 displaced Palestinians are at risk of flooding, the organization warned as Storm Byron, a severe weather system, hits the Strip.

Past storms flooded displacement sites, contaminating living areas with sewage and solid waste, the organization said.

“International aid organisations remain blocked from bringing in relief and nearly 4,000 pallets of shelter materials have been rejected. Gaza urgently needs heavy machinery, tools and shelter items to prevent catastrophic flooding,” the Council stated.

It called on world leaders “to demand unimpeded humanitarian access into Gaza.”

Situation Contravenes ICJ Ruling

Humanitarian organisations say the situation violates Israel’s obligations under international law.

In an advisory opinion issued in October 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel is obliged to ensure that the Gaza population has “the basic needs” essential for survival in accordance with international humanitarian law. In its ruling, the court said it was “of the opinion that the State of Israel, as an occupying Power, is required to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law.”

ICJ Rules on Aid Entry to Gaza – This is What It Said

These obligations, the judges unanimously agreed, include “to ensure that the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territory has the essential supplies of daily life, including food, water, clothing, bedding, shelter, fuel, medical supplies and services.”

Infant Dies Due to Cold Conditions

An eight-month-old Palestinian infant died on Thursday from the severe cold in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, the Health Ministry in Gaza confirmed.

The baby, identified as Rahaf Abu Jazar, died as temperatures dropped sharply in the area, as children and families sheltered in fragile, makeshift tents, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Head of the Health Ministry, Dr. Munir al-Bursh, warned that more children, the elderly and patients could die from the cold inside rain-soaked tents.

“Low temperatures are ravaging children, the elderly and the sick,” he told Anadolu, describing cases of severe shivering, loss of body heat, respiratory deterioration and possible death.

Infant Dies from Cold as Storm Devastates Gaza’s Displacement Camps

He said humidity and stagnant water inside the tents create “a perfect environment” for pneumonia and respiratory infections, while patients are unable to find medicine or medical care.

Displaced ‘are Drowning’

Gaza’s Civil Defense said entire camps have been submerged by rainwater, including sites in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, al-Bassa and al-Baraka in Deir al-Balah, the Central Market area in Nuseirat, and the Yarmouk and Port (al-Mina) areas, Anadolu reported.

“Displaced citizens, with their children and women, are drowning now,” the Civil Defense said of the “tragic” scenes unfolding inside the camps, adding that heavy rainfall has swept away tents despite repeated humanitarian appeals for urgent intervention.

Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu that the agency received more than 2,500 distress calls in the past 24 hours from displaced families whose tents were flooded during the storm.

Hundreds of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians across the enclave were flooded for a second consecutive day after heavy overnight rainfall linked to a new winter storm.

The Civil Defense said it evacuated dozens of tents in Rafah, in the south, after they were completely submerged.

Basal warned that more than 250,000 families in displacement camps across the enclave are vulnerable to cold weather and rainwater in their worn-out tents.

Lack of Critical Aid

Earlier this week, the Gaza media office had warned that a polar low-pressure system would affect the enclave starting Wednesday until Friday evening, threatening hundreds of thousands of displaced families.

Since Wednesday, thousands of tents housing survivors of Israel’s war have turned into pools of water, soaking bedding, clothing, and food supplies and leaving hundreds of Palestinian families exposed to the cold without warmth or shelter.

Staggering Death Toll

According to earlier data, Gaza needs around 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic shelter needs of Palestinians after Israel destroyed infrastructure over two years of Israel’s military operation in the Strip.

Since a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on October 10 under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, Israel has killed 379 more Palestinians and injured 992, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The total death toll since Israel’s genocidal assault began just over two years ago has risen to 70,369, with 171,069 injured.

(PC, Anadolu)

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