UN Warns of Growing Winter Hardship in Gaza and West Bank as Displacements Surge
The United Nations cautioned on Tuesday that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is growing increasingly dire with winter approaching, as continued hostilities obstruct aid efforts and force more families from their homes in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and its partners are working urgently to expand assistance for civilians — especially children — who have endured severe hardship over the past two years. Over the last two months, aid groups have distributed tens of thousands of essential winter items, including shoes, clothing, blankets, and towels for children across Gaza.
Between the last 10 days of November, workers also set up 160 activity tents, providing thousands of children with mental health support, psychosocial services, and case management at a time marked by escalating trauma.
Dujarric highlighted mounting medical concerns, noting that a World Health Organization (WHO) team recently evacuated 18 patients and 54 companions from Gaza for treatment abroad. However, WHO estimates that more than 16,500 patients still require urgent, life-saving care outside the enclave.
The UN reiterated its call for the opening of all possible border crossings and corridors to allow patients to seek treatment — including in the West Bank — and to ensure unrestricted access for international medical teams entering Gaza. Reports of airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire across all five governorates continue to reach UN offices daily.
In the occupied West Bank, Dujarric voiced alarm over Zionist aggression on the northern governorates of Tubas and Jenin, which in recent days have led to new waves of displacement, damage to water networks, and the closure of commercial facilities. Nearly two dozen Palestinian families have been uprooted from their homes in the last 48 hours alone, with some houses repurposed as military observation posts.
The UN emphasized that the combination of winter cold, ongoing violence, and restricted humanitarian access is creating a worsening crisis for Palestinian civilians on both sides of the separation barrier.
