North Gaza: Shelterless Palestinians Brave Harsh Winter in the Open

While Linda Jarour was sleeping in her neighbour’s tent near the ruins of her home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, a roofing sheet fell onto the tent. The heavy rain and strong winds had caused it to batter her shelter.

“I thought it was an Israeli air strike,” the 45-year-old told Middle East Eye. “It fell close to me and my husband.”

Since returning to northern Gaza after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Palestinians have been grappling with the lack of shelters that could protect them from the cold and rainy winter.

Most have returned to destroyed homes, forced to sleep in makeshift shelters, which have been hit by heavy rain and strong winds over the past week.

In October 2023, Jarour and her husband al-Khateb, 55, fled their home after intense Israeli bombardment rocked their neighbourhood.

They sought refuge in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, hoping to find safety after Israel claimed the area would be secure. But for Jarour, the reality was far different.

She was wounded in May 2024 when an Israeli air strike bombed a house just 50 metres away with no prior warning.

“Even in the south, they were killing everywhere,” Jarour said. “We were forced to be displaced multiple times, starved, humiliated, and left to suffer in the cold without proper shelter.” 

‘I broke down in tears when I saw the rubble of my house’

– Linda Jarour, north Gaza resident 

Her hopes of returning home were shattered when she received a call from a relative. Israeli air strikes had destroyed her house.

“My house was big and well-decorated. It was like a paradise for us,” Jarour said. “Since that day, my husband started suffering from diabetes, and I found out that my blood pressure had become dangerously high.”

In late January, Jarour and al-Khateb returned home after Israeli forces withdrew from the Netzarim corridor, allowing displaced Palestinians to cross back. But upon her return, Jarour was shocked by the scale of destruction in her area.

“I broke down in tears when I saw the rubble of my house,” she said.

Jarour hoped to receive a tent to provide warmth during Gaza’s cold weather. However, despite the widespread destruction, she has yet to receive aid.

“My neighbours offered us shelter in their tent, but there’s a shortage of tents, and the need keeps growing.”

“When it rains, the water leaks into our tent, soaking us,” Jarour said. “The sound of the wind is terrifying. I’m afraid the tent will blow away.”

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing, more than 250,000 homes have been destroyed or severely damaged by Israeli forces in 15 months of relentless bombing, which has killed over 48,000 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Palestinian authorities in Gaza accuse Israel of continuing to hinder the entry of aid, including tents and shelters, in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

But despite the hardships, Jarour refuses to leave again.

“They want us to leave our lands, but we will never leave,” she said. “I would rather die in my neighbourhood than evacuate again.”

‘I lie awake’

Unlike Jarour, Ibrahim Khalid and his family stayed in northern Gaza throughout the 15 months of Israeli bombardment. The family of 10 fled their home in Tal al-Zaater when Israeli troops forced them to move to Gaza City on 11 November 2024. They detained his father, who has not yet been released.

When Khalid, 18, returned to his neighbourhood after the ceasefire, he was devastated to find his home and most of the buildings around it destroyed.

Though he had seen videos on TikTok of Israeli soldiers blowing up buildings in northern Gaza, the reality of the destruction still took him by surprise.

“Israel detained my father, killed my brother in October 2023, killed at least 20 of my neighbours and friends, destroyed my house and turned northern Gaza into a ghost city, hoping we would leave,” he said. “But we won’t.”

Khalid told MEE that the family stayed in a school for a week, hoping to receive a tent or mobile home. But when news came that Israel was blocking their entry, they had no choice but to purchase a tent for 1,900 Israeli shekels ($534).

They removed what they could of the rubble of their house and set up the tent beneath a partially destroyed wall to protect themselves from the rain.

Though they are contending with a dire lack of food and clean water, difficulty moving around due to puddles and rubble in the streets, and the loss of all their belongings under the rubble of their house, the greatest threat for Khaled at the moment is the rain.

“I haven’t slept since the beginning of the rainy season. I lie awake, staring at the cover of my tent and the partly destroyed wall above my head, imagining it could collapse due to the strong winds and rain,” Khalid said.

“A partly destroyed wall fell on my relatives from the Al-Masri family last week in Al-Shati Refugee Camp. One of them was killed, and others were injured.”

‘Our souls are connected to this land’

Like Khalid, Mohammed al-Khateb, 57, from Jabalia refugee camp, refused to leave his house during the Israeli war.

Khateb’s house was bombed by Israeli artillery on the night of 14 May 2024, while he and his 10-member family were sleeping. They survived with minor injuries.

Although staying at home was dangerous due to the risk of collapse, Khateb and his family remained until the last Israeli incursion on 7 October 2024.

‘I saw more than 20 killed and injured people along the way, but I couldn’t help them because the drones were shooting everywhere’

– Mohammed al-Khateb, north Gaza resident

“We heard intense gunfire,” he said. “I looked out the window in terror and saw Israeli tanks just a few hundred metres away from our neighbourhood.”

Khateb and his family rushed to flee their house, but when they discovered that Israeli tanks were blocking their way, they and some neighbours divided into three groups and rushed from house to house, heading toward Gaza City, 12 kilometres away.

“I still can’t believe how we made it that day,” al-Khateb said. “I saw more than 20 killed and injured people along the way, but I couldn’t help them because the drones were shooting everywhere. I was helpless.”

Khateb stayed for three months in his relative’s house in the Shujaya neighbourhood, eastern Gaza City.

When the ceasefire began on 19 January 2025, he was one of the first in his family to return to his neighbourhood, hoping to find at least a room of his house intact. But he found only rubble.

His four-storey building had been destroyed.

‘Dogs live better than we do’

“I cleaned a small space between the rubble and stayed in it with my family until we could get a tent or mobile home,” he said. “I thank God we still have this little space to protect my eight daughters and son from sleeping in the street.”

Khateb, like many residents of the north, is suffering from the Israeli destruction of infrastructure, which has lead to a lack of basic necessities like clean drinking water, warmth and sanitation.

“I have to walk more than 100 metres to get water every day, which hurts because I have a previous leg injury,” he said.

“It’s painful in the cold, and I have no warm clothes, so I try to make a fire to stay warm. I lost all my belongings, including winter clothes. I barely received humanitarian food once since the ceasefire, and I haven’t received any other necessities like a tent, mattress, or clothes.” 

 

At night, the family doesn’t sleep, he says. 

“All the tents in the area blow away due to the strong wind, and people rush to protect themselves from the rain under any rubble,” he explained.

“Even tents don’t protect people from the cold, and we have no clothes to stay warm. My children and I are getting sick from the cold.”

Khateb is not hopeful about the reconstruction of Gaza, given repeated declarations by US President Donald Trump of “taking over” Gaza. However, he and his family have never considered living anywhere else.

“Dogs live better than we do. I wish I could die at any moment instead of enduring all this pain.”

“Trump wants us to leave, but where would we go? This is our only homeland,” al-Khateb said, shivering outside his tent in a thin sweater. “I’ve faced death here, and I stayed.”

“Our souls are connected to this land, and they cannot uproot us.”