Another child dies in extreme conditions in Gaza: UNICEF

In a statement, UNICEF identified the latest victim as seven-year-old Ata Mai; he drowned on 27 December during “severe flooding” in an improvised camp for internally displaced people in Sudaniyeh, northwest Gaza City. 

He is just the latest child in Gaza to succumb amid “extreme winter conditions and lack of safe shelters”, said UNICEF’s Edouard Beigbeder, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Teams visiting displacement camps reported appalling conditions that no child should endure, with many tents blown away or collapsing entirely,” he said.

Desperate search 

Information indicates that Ata had been living in a camp of some 40 tents when he went missing one afternoon. Despite search and rescue efforts supported by heavy machinery, his body was only recovered hours later. 

The UN agency noted that Ata’s siblings “are all under 10 years old…the family had already endured the loss of their mother during the war. UNICEF is currently supporting the family with essential aid, including blankets, tarpaulins, and psychosocial support, while assessing their broader needs”.

In addition to Ata Mai, at least five other children have lost their lives this month “after being exposed to such harsh conditions”, Mr. Beigbeder said.

Across Gaza, shelter needs are acute, with more than 1.9 million people displaced and only limited shelter supplies entering the enclave. Specifically, internally displaced families who have been sheltering in worn-out tents or makeshift shelters have faced prolonged rains, strong winds and freezing temperatures. Aid teams have repeatedly flagged the dangers for underfed youngsters and other vulnerable Gazans whose tents have been flooded time and again.

In an update issued on Tuesday, UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed flash flooding caused by new rainstorms, “affecting people living in low-lying areas, coastal zones and those sheltering in substandard structures and tents”.

“Seawater has once again inundated tents housing displaced families, including in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, rendering many shelters uninhabitable,” the update noted.

The rains have forced many families often previously uprooted by the war to move to higher ground after their belongings were soaked. 

Heavy winds have made matters worse, destroying or severely damaging numerous tents and makeshift shelters, OCHA said. 

Shelter solutions remain elusive and since early December, 18 residential buildings “have completely collapsed, resulting in significant human and material losses”, according to the agency update.

An additional more than 110 additional buildings have sustained dangerous partial damage, posing an immediate threat to thousands of residents in and around them.

“This tragedy underscores the extreme vulnerability of children in Gaza’s hardest-hit areas, where the near-total destruction of homes and water and sewage infrastructure has left families exposed to the elements,” UNICEF said. 

The development comes after a week of heavy rainfall, strong winds and freezing temperatures that have affected around 100,000 families.

With further rain and colder conditions forecast, the situation is expected to worsen. 

Still saving lives

Working alongside aid partners, UNICEF provides critical support to thousands of affected families. This vital work includes: 

• installing temporary water pipelines, 
• distributing hygiene items, tarpaulins, blankets and dignity kits, 
• ensuring access to latrines, 
• working to clean and reopen sewage pipelines, clear stormwater inlets and protect tents from flooding.

UNICEF warned that heavy rains are making the situation worse by driving up fuel needs for sewage pumping and stormwater drainage. Water levels at the Sheikh Radwan lagoon have risen from 1.8 to 2.2 metres, requiring 7,000 litres of fuel per day to prevent overflow.

Humanitarian efforts in jeopardy 

From 1 January, a reported 37 international aid organizations risk losing their licences to operate in Gaza under Israel’s new registration system, potentially forcing a large-scale suspension of humanitarian operations, UN agencies and partners warn.

“If INGOs are forced to stop operations, one in three health facilities in Gaza will close,” UN and partners in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said earlier this month. 

In a joint statement, they insisted that the new INGO registration system “fundamentally jeopardizes the continuation of humanitarian operations throughout the OPT”. 

The new system “relies on vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized criteria and imposes requirements that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising core humanitarian principles”, the aid agencies stated. 

Unless Israel reconsiders, dozens of INGOs face deregistration by Wednesday 31 December 2025, followed by the forced closure of operations within 60 days.

Suspension of aid agencies ‘outrageous’

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, also expressed deep concerns over the move, calling Israel’s suspension of aid agencies from Gaza “outrageous.”

“This is the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access,” Mr. Türk said on Wednesday, citing Israel’s ban on UNRWA and broader constraints on UN agencies, Israeli and Palestinian NGOs.

“Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza,” he said, urging States with influence to “take urgent steps and insist that Israel immediately allows aid to get into Gaza unhindered.”

Mr. Türk reminded Israeli authorities of their obligations under international law to ensure the essential supplies of daily life in Gaza, including by allowing and facilitating humanitarian relief.