GAZA, January 13, 2026 (WAFA) – Health and local sources in Gaza warned of the dire situation facing displaced people in the Strip as a severe polar air mass arrived. Approximately 127,000 out of 135,000 tents are now uninhabitable, amid a critical shortage of blankets, mattresses, and heating supplies.

WAFA correspondents reported that displaced people are facing the bitter cold without sufficient blankets or mattresses to protect them from the cold and damp, particularly families living in dilapidated tents or in remote and isolated areas. The shortage of blankets and heating supplies exceeds 70% across the Strip, and is even more critical in remote areas.

According to official sources, the Israeli occupation has repeatedly targeted shelters and aid distribution centers. Since the start of the offensive, 303 shelters and 61 food distribution centers have been bombed, leaving most displaced families without heating and blankets. Children, women, and the elderly have been forced to sleep on the ground inside tents that offer no protection from the wind or rain.

According to medical sources, these conditions resulted in the deaths of 21 displaced people due to the extreme cold, including 18 children in displacement camps. Tens of thousands of cases of respiratory and infectious diseases were recorded, amid the lack of heating and the disruption of the health sector after the destruction of 38 hospitals and the closure of 96 health centers, which increased the likelihood of death among infants, the elderly, and the sick.

K.T