A painful account of Gaza’s displaced people; the nightmare of death from cold returns once again
As the nightmare of death from cold returns to Gaza for the third consecutive year, Dr. Munir Al-Barsh, Director General of the Gaza Ministry of Health, has warned of the catastrophic conditions facing displaced people amid heavy rainstorms that have flooded tents with water. He said the painful scenario of children, the elderly, and patients dying from extreme cold inside waterlogged tents is repeating once again.
Tragedy of children and patients in cold, flooded tents
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Dr. Al-Barsh said that genocide remains the defining feature of what is happening in Gaza, as every storm, cold wave, and rainfall becomes a direct threat to vulnerable groups living in dilapidated tents with collapsed roofs, without homes or heating.
He added that severe cold devastates children, the elderly, and patients, causing intense shivering and respiratory complications that often lead to death, especially amid the ongoing famine and weakened immunity of the population, particularly among vulnerable groups.
Al-Barsh stressed that moisture and standing water inside tents create ideal conditions for pneumonia and respiratory infections, while patients are unable to access medicines or healthcare. He noted that cold in Gaza is no longer merely a weather condition but an additional factor in a daily equation of death threatening hundreds of thousands, as the world watches in shameful silence the suffering of besieged Gaza amid famine, bombardment, and freezing temperatures.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Bassal, head of Gaza’s Civil Defense, said more than 2,500 distress calls were received within 24 hours from displaced families whose tents were flooded. Thousands of tents across Gaza have been submerged as storms intensified, while displaced people suffer acute shortages of basic necessities.
Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that at least 14 people, including children, have died due to extreme cold and storm-related incidents, with dozens of homes completely destroyed. Medical sources also confirmed the deaths of infants and children in several displacement camps across northern, central, and southern Gaza.
Displacement camps have turned into vast pools of water and mud. Over a quarter million displaced families spend nights amid fierce winds and children’s cries, desperately trying to seal tent holes with plastic bags or soaked fabric that offer no protection from the cold.
Displaced residents describe deep psychological trauma and despair, as rain—once a symbol of life—has become a source of fear and death, with their hopes washed away by the floods that engulfed their tents.
