
The United Nations on Monday, January 12, expressed concerns over the worsening situation in Gaza as the enclave faces storms while being in a fragile condition.
Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric issued a statement, “To help address immense shelter needs, during the past week our partners delivered supplies to 28,000 families, including 1,600 tents, 16,000 tarpaulins and 27,000 blankets.”
Despite the aid, over 1 million people in Gaza still need assistance as weather conditions worsen. On January 9, a major storm destroyed the makeshift tents.
Infant deaths in Gaza
According to UN News, infants are the worst affected. One baby died of hypothermia on January 9, bringing the number of infant deaths to four.
Since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the UN has distributed over 310,000 winter clothing sets for children and more than 1,12,000 pairs of shoes as part of winterisation efforts. They have also installed 150 specialised tents across Gaza to be used as child-friendly and safe spaces.
Meanwhile, nutrition partners screened more than 76,000 children last month, identifying around 4,900 cases of acute malnutrition, including more than 820 cases of severe acute malnutrition. This brings the total number of acute malnutrition cases identified in 2025 to nearly 95,000.
Education
The UN and its education partners in Gaza are expanding their presence with 18 new learning centers for 35,000 children in the first week of January.
“There are now 440 operational temporary learning spaces, accommodating around 268,000 children,” said Dujarric. However, the Spokesperson said that Israel continues to block entries of educational supplies into Gaza.
Israeli authorities argue that education is not a critical activity which needs to be addressed during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
