UNICEF official in Gaza says ‘scale of the disaster is huge’
Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication at UNICEF Palestine, says he was at a displacement camp in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza this morning and saw many children barefoot, all their clothes and mattresses soaked.
“The water is getting everywhere because those tents are mostly makeshift and are not protecting children,” he told Al Jazeera. He said many children are sick, and after two years of relentless war, they are suffering without reprieve.
UNICEF and other agencies have seen a “slight improvement” in the amount of aid in Gaza in recent weeks, but the situation remains dire, according to Crickx.
He said UNICEF managed to distribute just 7,500 tents in Gaza, while hundreds of thousands of families remain in need. He pointed out that up to 90 percent of infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed, adding that the UN estimates 1.5 million people are at risk.
“The scale of the disaster is huge. What we’re scared of is that there is very poor hygiene, and all that pouring rain could enable the appearance of waterborne diseases like acute diarrhoea,” he said, adding that many of the more than one million children in need have been repeatedly displaced with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
Palestinians ‘face another layer of misery’ amid Gaza storm
The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that “Storm Byron has Gaza in its grip”.
Philippe Lazzarini said in a social media post that displaced Palestinian families face “more hardship” in makeshift shelters as heavy rainfall brings “floods, damage & additional health threats”.
For months, UNRWA has been calling on Israel to allow unimpeded humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. That includes shelter supplies that the UN and other groups say are critical, as most of the Palestinian enclave has been destroyed in Israel’s military assault.
Storm Byron has #Gaza in its grip.
People who had already lost everything & need everything face another layer of misery.
More hardship for displaced families living in makeshift shelters with rain bringing floods, damage & additional health threats.
UNRWA teams — displaced… pic.twitter.com/hRN25JVlXP
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) December 11, 2025
Israeli rights group condemns limited aid to Gaza during winter storm
B’Tselem says “two years of genocide” have left vulnerable Palestinians exposed to the worst of winter and Storm Byron, with nowhere dry to shelter.
“Yet two months into the so-called ‘ceasefire’, Israel is still blocking aid,” the prominent Israeli human rights group said.
It pointed out that more than 6,500 trucks are currently waiting to be allowed by Israel into Gaza with essential winter supplies, including tents, blankets, warm clothing and hygiene materials.
“Meanwhile, children are going barefoot and wearing summer clothes in the freezing cold,” B’Tselem said. “World leaders and the international community continue to look away and abandon the people of Gaza.”
Palestinian children struggle with flooding after heavy rain hits the Abu Marhil refugee camp in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, on December 11
