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UN warns Gaza shelter shortfall could kill thousands

By Drooid · Oct 28, 2026, 08:04 UTC · How we work

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Summary

Gaza’s civilians need immediate adequate shelter before winter’s harsh conditions arrive.
Eighty-four percent of Gazans, about 1.76 million people, live in displacement camps.
UNRWA reports 82 percent of structures—roughly 200,000 buildings—are damaged, two-thirds destroyed.
Many shelters are tents or collapsing structures that have endured years of exposure.
Humanitarian agencies warn insufficient shelter could raise mortality as temperatures drop below freezing, endangering the elderly, infants, women and families.

History

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War expelled roughly 750,000 Palestinians, the UN General Assembly created UNRWA on 8 December 1949 to shelter refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Decades of displacement have left over 1.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza’s UNRWA camps, a legacy that underpins today’s humanitarian shelter emergency.

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Historical Context

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War expelled roughly 750,000 Palestinians, the UN General Assembly created UNRWA on 8 December 1949 to shelter refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Decades of displacement have left over 1.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza’s UNRWA camps, a legacy that underpins today’s humanitarian shelter emergency.

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