A million people in Gaza urgently need shelter assistance

The spokesperson's office for the UN Secretary-General said on Friday that approximately one million people, or half the population of the Gaza Strip, still urgently need shelter assistance.

The office added in a statement that the need for shelter assistance continues, despite humanitarian workers distributing thousands of tents and hundreds of thousands of tarpaulin and other materials throughout the sector since the ceasefire.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs was quoted as saying that humanitarian workers in Gaza continue to assist the most vulnerable families, as harsh winter conditions leave hundreds of thousands of Palestinians struggling in temporary tents damaged by rain, wind, and sea waves.

On Thursday, a Palestinian woman and her child were martyred due to a fire that engulfed their tent in the Yarmouk area in the center of Gaza City, while trying to get warm in the bitter cold.

The Civil Defense Department said in a statement that a fire broke out in tents sheltering displaced people in the Yarmouk area in the center of Gaza City, and it was dealt with, with the bodies of a woman and her young child recovered, while another person injured with burns was rescued.

The statement added that the relevant authorities are still working on following up the details and circumstances of the incident.

In the absence of heating means, thousands of displaced people in the tents spread across the sector are forced to use primitive means for heating, by lighting fires or candles, which may be the cause of the fire outbreak.

Moreover, medical sources said that the child Malak Ghanem was martyred due to the bitter cold, inside her family's tent in the Nuseirat camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip has been witnessing two waves of severe weather depressions since last week, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of children, in addition to flooding and damage to about 53,000 tents sheltering displaced people in various areas of the sector.

This humanitarian catastrophe is worsening amid the occupation's failure to comply with the ceasefire agreement and the humanitarian protocol, especially regarding the entry of shelter materials, tents, and mobile homes necessary to protect the population from harsh weather conditions.