Urgent appeal to expedite the entry of winter supplies into Gaza

Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory

The devastating impact of the latest rainstorm in Gaza was preventable. Children and adults were killed, critical services suspended, and thousands of family shelters flooded, swept away, or torn apart – not by the storm alone, but by policy decisions.

Months ago, the humanitarian community presented a plan to help Palestinians prepare for the 2026-2027 winter season.

• The plan was clear about what we would deliver: shelter; improved health and protection services; drainage and sandbag reinforcement; and support for people choosing to relocate from dangerously damaged buildings and from flood-prone displacement areas to which they had been pushed.
• It identified the supplies that needed to enter Gaza: tents, cement, warm clothes, blankets, sandbags and safe heaters; pumps, generators, fuel, engine oil, spare parts; equipment to pump out water, remove debris and clear explosive ordnance; oxygen concentrators, laboratory equipment, vaccines, antibiotics, medicines and supplies to combat infectious diseases.
• And it spelled out what was needed to make this possible: sufficient humanitarian funding, expedited entry of critical supplies and access to higher ground.

As the Occupying Power, Israel is obliged to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival. Yet Israeli policies continue to obstruct the entry of critical items as well as access to most of Gaza’s land, including areas away from the shoreline that are less prone to flooding. Incoming supplies face multiple approval requirements, limited crossing capacity and unpredictable or narrow delivery windows that delay their entry.

Although funding has fallen far short of what is needed, more than 150,000 tents procured by humanitarian partners and Member States are outside Gaza, ready for dispatch; most are in Al Arish, just 50 kilometres away from Khan Younis. Inside Gaza, each rainstorm destroys more tents, requiring yet more replacements; the needs are growing. And providing longer-lasting shelter requires even more funding, approvals and access. Therefore, figures on incoming supplies do not mean that people’s needs have been met. They have not. Success must be measured not by approvals, but by whether people are receiving the assistance they need. 

Winter will last for months. Access to longer-lasting shelter must not be made conditional on political progress when people’s needs are so urgent. Winter supplies must reach families immediately to prevent further loss of life and protect their dignity. People cannot wait.

We call on the Israeli authorities to immediately ensure that Palestinians in Gaza have access to life-saving supplies. Expedite their entry in sufficient quantities. Let them in every day, through every available crossing. Lift any restrictions. Unblock any obstacles. Enable the repair of water and wastewater networks. Let all humanitarian partners operate – UN agencies, international organizations, and Palestinian NGOs alike. Allow meaningful commercial activity.

We call on Member States to use their influence to ensure these steps are taken swiftly and to provide the necessary humanitarian funding without delay. Lives are at stake.

Ends

_{* The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is a strategic decision-making forum led by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It brings together heads of UN entities and NGOs – both international and Palestinian – all working on humanitarian affairs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under internationally agreed humanitarian principles.}