Palestinians continue to suffer long after the so-called ceasefire in Gaza, with winter bringing harsher conditions as "Israel" continues to choke the Strip, depriving it of much-needed aid, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

“Everything collapsed … We repaired our shelter but in the night it fell down again under the heavy rain. All our belongings were soaked. The day the winds blew was a black day for us,” Sabah al-Breem, 62, told The Guardian.

This week, the roughly half a million Palestinians residing in al-Mawasi, a densely packed coastal area in southern Gaza, are preparing for a harsh winter, marking for many their third such season since being displaced during the war. Last week’s storm highlighted that over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, despite surviving the two-year war, continue to confront a severe humanitarian crisis.

Shelters; a dire need

Aid agencies say shelter is the most urgent need, noting that most homes in Gaza have been destroyed or made uninhabitable by successive Israeli offensives, or are located east of the new “yellow line” that splits the territory into two parts, with "Israel" occupying the eastern part.

Food ranks a close second in priority for those in al-Mawasi, with Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire deal calling for “full aid” to be delivered to Gaza, yet as the blockade is slightly eased, residents and humanitarian officials say the amounts remain far from sufficient.

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“Is it better? Yes … in the sense that people aren’t starving any more. Is it enough? Absolutely not. We have massive stockpiles of tents and tarpaulins and we can’t get them in. A lot is still waiting to clear all the hurdles the Israelis are still putting in our way … We could be handing out 10,000 tents a day,” a senior official from a major NGO told The Guardian.

'Israel's' chokehold on aid increases the suffering of Palestinians

"Israel" has not yet permitted passage through the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza, although some smaller crossings from "Israel" have been reopened. Most supplies entering the territory are transported by private commercial operators or donors, while officials from leading United Nations agencies say they continue to face complex and opaque bureaucratic processes that delay or block their distributions.

Many critical items, like tent poles, are banned by Israeli authorities under the claim that they have potential military uses.

Prices in Gaza fluctuate sharply, with those who have money able to purchase a tent in markets for around $800, yet few in al-Mawasi have any cash after two years of war. Most Palestinians in the territory still cannot afford food, medicine, or the limited cooking gas available, while community kitchens have increased their operations but remain unable to meet the severe demand.

“Sometimes we receive one meal from the public kitchen every three days – usually lentils or rice. The food in the market remains completely unaffordable. Water is also a struggle. We have to bring it from a long distance, and it does not last the whole day. We only have three containers that we fill for daily use,” Maher Abu Jerad, 29, told The Guardian.

Palestinians brace for harsh winter

Everyone in Gaza is aware that last week’s storm was just the beginning and that temperatures are expected to drop sharply in the coming weeks. Mohammed Madhoun, a community healthcare worker at a Medical Aid for Palestinians clinic in Deir al-Balah, explained that the lack of basic infrastructure and proper drainage in the camps is causing rainwater to accumulate around tents, while overcrowding and limited access to clean water are worsening sanitation conditions.

“The sound of the waves prevents us from sleeping. We barely sleep an hour or less, and the seawater reaches the tents when the waves crash,” Sabah al-Breem stated, adding, “We lack all winter essentials: no blankets, no rugs, no bedding. Diseases have spread among us: colds, coughs, aches … and this is just at the start of winter.”

Naama Arafat, now living on the shoreline in al-Mawasi, recalled a “beautiful life” before the war in her family’s “small, simple, warm house” located east of Khan Younis. “We wore our warm clothes, and mattresses and blankets were plentiful … Now, we cannot even light a fire to cook food because of the strong winds and the lack of wood and supplies,” Arafat, 53, told The Guardian.

“I pray to God that all aspects of our lives will be eased and we can live in better conditions. I say a message to the world: to look at us with mercy and offer us help, for we have entered a very harsh winter season," she added.