As talks on the release of hostages and the reaching of a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip have resumed, winter is expected to complicate the situation of two million Palestinians. Displaced residents in southern Gaza are worried about the consequences that the drop in temperatures could bring.
Like many other Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Abu Maryam family lives in a tent in al-Mawasi, an Israeli-designated safe zone in southern Gaza.
Etimad, her husband Aref and their two grown children fled their home in northern Gaza and have been relocated five times since the war between Israel and Hamas began last year.
They are worried about the difficulties that winter will bring.
"The coming of winter and rain is scary. We live in tents, which cannot withstand the rain."
Etimad Abu Meryam says basic hygiene is almost impossible in tented shelter camps.
"There is no purity. All day I try to organize and clean, but it is very difficult. Insects and rats have spread here, which are damaging clothes, bedding and food."
Ms Maryam's husband says rain was once seen as a blessing for Gazans, especially farmers. But now, he says, the rain is a curse.
"In the past we prayed for rain and thanked God when it rained. But now we pray that it doesn't rain because we live under a plastic tent. Everything has turned against us. Even the agricultural land is now being used to put up our tents," he says.
Winter is coming as Gaza's humanitarian crisis worsens.
The health care system is struggling, and the UN's Palestine Refugee Agency says there is not enough food for the population of more than 2 million, especially for those in northern Gaza.
"There is a real danger as we enter winter again. People's immune systems are much weaker in winter. We are entering a situation where hunger or malnutrition, unfortunately, can again be problems for the displaced. This could have been avoided", says Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees.
Israel recently severed ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing some of its staff of participating in the October 7 attack on Israel.
Israel's military says it allows sufficient amounts of international aid to enter the Gaza Strip through its checkpoints and that the problem is its distribution inside Gaza.
"Today we have more than 800 trucks waiting for the international community to send them inside Gaza," said Abdullah Halabi, the Israeli military's humanitarian aid official.
For the Abu Maryam family, it doesn't really matter who is responsible for the lack of help.
They are facing another cold and rainy winter in a tent, not knowing when they will be able to return to their home. /VOA (A2 Televizion)
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