He is just the youngest child in Gaza to succumb to “extreme winter conditions and a lack of safe shelter,” said Edouard Beigbeder of UNICEF, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Teams visiting displaced persons camps reported dire conditions that no child should have to endure, with many tents blown away or completely collapsed,” he said.
Desperate search
Information indicates that Ata was living in a camp with about forty tents when he went missing one afternoon. Despite search and rescue efforts supported by heavy machinery, his body was not recovered until hours later.
The UN agency noted that Ata’s siblings “are all under the age of 10… the family had already suffered the loss of their mother during the war. UNICEF is currently supporting the family with essential assistance, including blankets, tarpaulins and psychosocial support, while assessing their broader needs.”
In addition to Ata Mai, at least five other children have died this month “after being exposed to such harsh conditions,” Mr Beigbeder said.
Across Gaza, the need for shelter is acute: more than 1.9 million people have been displaced and only a limited number of shelter facilities are entering the enclave. In particular, internally displaced families sheltering in worn-out tents or makeshift shelters have faced prolonged rains, high winds and freezing temperatures. Aid teams have repeatedly highlighted the dangers to malnourished youth and other vulnerable Gazans whose tents have been repeatedly flooded.
In one update issued Tuesday by the UN Aid Coordination Office, OCHAconfirmed flash flooding caused by new rains, “affecting people living in low-lying areas, coastal areas and people sheltering in substandard structures and tents”.
“Seawater has once again inundated tents housing displaced families, including in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, making many shelters uninhabitable,” the update said.
The rain has forced many families, often previously uprooted by the war, to move to higher ground after their belongings were soaked.
Heavy winds have made the situation worse, with numerous tents and makeshift shelters destroyed or seriously damaged, OCHA said.
Shelter solutions remain elusive and since early December, 18 residential buildings have “completely collapsed, resulting in significant human and material losses,” the agency’s update said.
More than 110 more buildings have suffered dangerous partial damage, posing an immediate threat to thousands of residents in and around them.
“This tragedy underlines the extreme vulnerability of children in the hardest-hit areas of Gaza, where the near-total destruction of homes and water and sewage infrastructure has exposed families to the elements,” UNICEF said.
The development comes after a week of heavy rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures that have affected around 100,000 families.
With further rain and colder conditions forecast, the situation is expected to deteriorate.
Still saving lives
UNICEF is working with aid partners to provide critical support to thousands of affected families. This crucial work includes:
- installing temporary water pipes,
- distributing hygiene items, tarpaulins, blankets and dignity kits,
- guaranteeing access to latrines,
- working to clean and reopen sewer lines, clearing stormwater intakes and protecting tents from flooding.
UNICEF warned that heavy rains are worsening the situation by increasing fuel needs for sewage pumping and stormwater drainage. The water level in the Sheikh Radwan Lagoon has risen from 1.8 to 2.2 meters, requiring 7,000 liters of fuel per day to prevent flooding.
Threat of suspension of INGO
From January 1, 37 international aid groups – International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) – are at risk of losing their licenses to operate throughout Gaza. They include key UN partners, including the Norwegian Refugee Council and others who are solely responsible for all five life-saving nutritional stabilization centers treating children with acute malnutrition.
“If INGOs are forced to cease operations, one in three health facilities in Gaza will close,” UN and partners in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) said earlier this month.
In a statement, they stressed that the new INGO registration system “fundamentally endangers the continuation of humanitarian operations throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.”
The new system “is based on vague, arbitrary and highly politicized criteria and imposes requirements that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or endangering fundamental humanitarian principles,” the aid agencies continued.
Unless Israel reconsiders, dozens of INGOs will have to be deregistered by Wednesday, December 31, 2025, followed by the forced closure of their operations within 60 days.
“The work of INGOs cannot be replaced, especially after Israeli restrictions have been imposed UNRWA have already brought the humanitarian response in Gaza to a breaking point,” they said, referring to the UN Agency for Palestinians, which continues to provide crucial humanitarian services to more than two million Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories despite Israeli restrictions.
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