DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip: A grandmother and her 5-year-old grandson burned to death in Gaza when their tent caught fire, as thousands of Palestinians battle harrowing winter conditions in flimsy makeshift housing and the humanitarian crisis deepens.
The nylon tent in Yarmouk caught fire Thursday night from cooking, a neighbor said.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed almost daily by Israeli fire, and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating.
Over past weeks, cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities, causing flooding, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing buildings damaged in Israeli bombardment to collapse. UNICEF says at least six children have now died of weather-related causes, including a 4-year-old who died in a building collapse. At least three children have died of hypothermia, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce. Figures recently released by Israel’s military suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding. There is also concern that Israel’s recent suspension of more than three dozen international aid groups from operating in Gaza will make it even harder to get supplies like tents in.
Palestinians have long called for mobile homes and caravans to be allowed in to protect them against living in impractical and worn out tents. In Yarmouk people live in nylon tents near a garbage dump.
Ashraf al-Suwair said he woke up to the sound of screaming as his neighbors shouted “fire! fire!” He said the nylon is like fuel, easy to ignite. “We need a good place that suits the people and the children of Gaza, instead of burning to death,” he said.
Foreign ministers say Gaza isn’t getting the help it needs
On Friday the foreign ministers of Arab and Muslim countries, including Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, expressed concern about Gaza’s deteriorating humanitarian situation.
The situation has been “compounded by the continued lack of sufficient humanitarian access, acute shortages of essential life-saving supplies, and the slow pace of the entry of essential materials,” said the joint statement.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. The overall Palestinian death toll from the war is at least 71,266. The ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
The Israel-Hamas war began with the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Israel carries out more West Bank raids and arrests
Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
On Friday the Palestinian Prisoners media office said Israel carried out wide scale raids across the territory including Ramallah and Hebron. Nearly 50 people were detained.
Israel’s military said there were arrests made of people “involved in terrorist activity.”
This follows the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those occurred in the Ramallah area.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says that Israel has arrested 7,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem this year, and 21,000 since the war began Oct. 7, 2023. The number arrested from Gaza is not made public by Israel.
Violence in the West Bank has surged during the war in Gaza, with the Israeli military carrying out large-scale operations targeting militants that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. There has also been a rise in Israeli settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.