Ramallah, Nov. 26 – The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned today that aid levels for the Gaza Strip remain alarmingly low despite a ceasefire signed last month.
In a statement, the organization alerted about the upcoming winter and rainy season in the territory, a situation that will worsen the humanitarian crisis there, caused by two years of Israeli aggression.
With homes and infrastructure destroyed, overcrowded shelters, and critically limited access to potable water, fuel, and electricity, hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of dying from the climate conditions, it emphasized.
It recalled that during last winter, the UN reported the deaths of children and infants due to hypothermia.
Our teams reported that recent rains have already flooded makeshift shelters, leaving thousands of people exposed to wind and freezing nights, it highlighted.
Bob Kitchens, IRC’s Vice President of Emergency Programs, stated that “winter in Gaza brings a new struggle for survival to people recovering from over two years of violence.”
People live in makeshift shelters, exposed to rain, wind, and freezing nights, with little more than plastic sheets for protection, he explained.
We are deeply concerned because every hour counts, said Kitchens, noting that without safety or shelter, winter will turn a severe humanitarian emergency into an even greater tragedy.
The IRC reiterated its call to the international community to facilitate “rapid, scaled, and unhindered humanitarian access aimed at reaching all those in need” in the Gaza Strip.
