Gaza faces a fourth winter in tents as Board of Peace envoy Mladenov seeks Israeli approval for shelter

The Board of Peace's top official for Gaza arrived in Israel on Monday to ask for permission to bring tents into the Gaza Strip before winter, Israeli Army Radio reported. Nickolay Mladenov, the board's high representative, was due to meet senior officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, according to Al Jazeera Arabic, which cited the Army Radio correspondent's post on X.

His requests, as described in that post, were ones Israel had turned down before: tents for the winter, permission for a new Palestinian police force to operate, and progress toward the planned multinational force. The correspondent said Israel was refusing to ease conditions in Gaza as long as Hamas has not disarmed. No outcome of the meetings had been announced by Tuesday afternoon Eastern time.

On Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority's cabinet warned that most of Gaza's people were preparing to spend a fourth winter in worn-out tents. Aid groups say Israeli limits on what they call shelter materials are slowing the response. Israel's military aid body says tens of thousands of tents have already entered and that it is acting to stop Hamas from taking over aid.

What Mladenov is asking for

The Board of Peace was set up by the United States to oversee President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza. Mladenov has pressed Israel on shelter for months. At the UN Security Council in August, he said: "Winter is already approaching, and Israel's current policy regarding the provision of adequate shelter is unacceptable," according to All Israel News, which cited Kan News.

Last month, Mladenov wrote to Yoram Halevi, the head of Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). He asked Israel to let both the Palestinian national committee for Gaza and the international stabilization force enter the territory right away, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing Haaretz. The letter came after Halevi suspended the entry of goods through private-sector traders until further notice. That channel carries most goods into Gaza, the report said.

According to the same report, Mladenov had said Israel told him it was suspending the private-sector channel because of reports that Hamas was pressuring and threatening traders. Hamas responded by accusing Mladenov of siding with Israel and adopting its reasons for the suspension. It urged him to press Israel to lift the blockade and to speed up the national committee's entry so it could begin reconstruction.

Al Jazeera Arabic also reported that Israel bars caravans, or prefabricated homes, on the grounds that they are part of reconstruction. Israel does not intend to allow reconstruction before Hamas disarms, the report said, and it restricts sturdier tents on security grounds.

What Israel says has entered

COGAT says the winter effort is well under way. In a statement on October 28, it said more than 75,000 tents had entered Gaza as part of its winter preparations, JDN reported. More than 5,000 of them entered in the week before the statement.

The statement also said more than 7,500 trucks carrying clothing, blankets, sanitation supplies and medical equipment had entered. COGAT said the tents came in through the UN, international organizations, donor countries and the private sector.

COGAT listed other steps. It said it had coordinated fuel to run sewage drainage systems and repairs to the water network. It said it approved eight sewage pumping tankers for the International Committee of the Red Cross. It also approved 7,500 doses of tetanus vaccine for UNICEF, the statement said.

The body said it would keep working with the Board of Peace, the UN, international groups and donor states on winter preparations. It added that steps were being taken to prevent Hamas from taking over aid meant for civilians, in a 567politics translation of the Hebrew report.

An earlier 567politics report noted that Israeli officials expect Hamas to run a public campaign about winter conditions in Gaza, according to Ynet.

What aid groups say is missing

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which leads the shelter cluster of aid groups in Gaza, says the pace is far too slow. In an October 5 statement, it said Israeli authorities let in just 15 trucks a week from Jordan carrying items Israel classes as "dual-use," across all aid sectors. Israel classes tents, tarpaulins, timber, cement, tools and rope as dual-use, the NRC said.

The group said at least 500 truckloads of such shelter items were in the pipeline. At the current pace, it said, it would take more than seven months to bring them in.

"Palestinians in Gaza cannot be expected to survive another winter in worn and torn tents that were never designed to withstand these conditions," said NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland. "This is not an unavoidable natural disaster – it is a manmade humanitarian crisis because life-saving shelter aid is blocked by the occupying power."

Egeland said Israel has obligations to facilitate relief. He called on UN member states to press for all crossings to open and on donors to fund the shelter response.

The NRC said Israel continues to block timber, cement and metal sheeting needed for repairs and sturdier shelters. As a result, it said, aid groups are stuck replacing tents and tarpaulins that wear out after a few months.

Its figures, which come from the shelter cluster, give a sense of the gap:

The UN migration agency, IOM, said on October 9 that nearly two million people needed shelter help and that half of Gaza's tents and makeshift shelters needed replacing, Al Jazeera reported.

The money gap

The NRC said donors had given or pledged only about a third of what the minimum winter shelter response needs.

Needed for minimum response

$283

Provided or pledged

$96.2

Shortfall

$186.6

Source: Norwegian Refugee Council, citing the Palestine Shelter Cluster

Show the numbers

Item	Amount
Needed for minimum response	$283
Provided or pledged	$96.2
Shortfall	$186.6

"Winter in a tent is not merely a season, but a nightmare," said Nesma Al-Sallaq, the NRC's shelter coordinator in Gaza. "Parents tell us they can't sleep at night because they're so worried about keeping their children warm and safe from flooding."

The NRC also said that Palestinians are restricted to about 35% of Gaza, citing the UN's humanitarian office. That leaves little room to move families away from areas at risk of flooding, the group said.

The Palestinian Authority's warning

The PA cabinet raised the issue at its weekly meeting in Ramallah on Tuesday. It warned of growing Israeli restrictions on international aid groups in Gaza, which it said were deepening hardship and limiting the groups' ability to deliver relief, according to the official WAFA news agency.

"Most of the population in Gaza is preparing to endure its fourth consecutive winter in dilapidated tents, as living conditions and the humanitarian situation continue to worsen," the cabinet's statement said.

The cabinet also cited UN findings on what it called the risk of ethnic cleansing in Gaza. It said Israel had declared plans to expand its control to about 70% of the territory. In July, NPR reported that Israel's military controlled nearly 70% of Gaza, based on Israeli leaders' comments and maps of areas aid groups cannot reach. NPR quoted Netanyahu telling an audience, "First, 70%. Let's go for that."

Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa directed government bodies to step up their emergency response, WAFA reported.

Strikes continue

The shelter talks come as deadly incidents continue despite the ceasefire that took effect in October 2025. At least four Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Monday, and a fifth died of earlier wounds, Al Jazeera reported, citing medical sources and WAFA. The Israeli military said it targeted Palestinian fighters in three strikes but gave no further details.

Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 1,593 Palestinians have been killed and 5,748 wounded since the ceasefire began. It puts the overall toll since October 2023 at 74,609 killed and 175,872 wounded.

An earlier report covered the stalled diplomacy and aid deliveries in more detail.

The wider plan

In late July, the Board of Peace announced a 15-point roadmap for the next phase of Trump's plan. It covered security, administrative and transition arrangements, as well as Israel's withdrawal and the territory's governance, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. Hamas accepted the roadmap, and Israel rejected it, the report said.

Israel's position, as reported by Army Radio and Al Jazeera Arabic, is that easing steps and reconstruction depend on Hamas giving up its weapons. Mladenov's requests on the new police force and the multinational force concern the security arrangements in that same plan.

Israel's own politics may slow decisions. Netanyahu is leading a caretaker government while coalition talks continue after the October 27 election. See our report on where those talks stand.

What remains unclear

• Whether Israel will approve more tents, sturdier shelters or caravans after Mladenov's meetings.
• Whether the private-sector goods channel has reopened.
• How many of COGAT's 75,000 tents replaced worn ones and how many added new capacity.
• How much of the NRC's $186.6 million shortfall donors have filled since October 5.

About this report

This report draws on statements by COGAT, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Palestinian Authority cabinet, and on reporting by Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Arabic, JDN, All Israel News and NPR, each opened in full. Translations from Arabic and Hebrew are by 567politics. For how we report, see our methodology. For more on the West Bank, see our report on settler attacks during the olive harvest.

Differing perspectives

How should shelter aid reach Gaza this winter, and under what conditions?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Change Israel's shelter policy before winter

  Who holds it: Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov

  Mladenov told the UN Security Council that winter is approaching and that Israel's current policy on providing adequate shelter in Gaza is unacceptable. He has asked Israel to allow tents, let a new Palestinian police force operate, and admit the Palestinian national committee and the international stabilization force, and he has pushed for steps to speed up reconstruction.

  In their words: All Israel News (citing Kan News) ↗

• End curbs on aid groups and ensure accountability

  Who holds it: Palestinian Authority cabinet, Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa

  The PA cabinet says escalating Israeli restrictions on international humanitarian organizations are deepening suffering in Gaza and limiting relief, as most people prepare for a fourth winter in dilapidated tents. It warns of what it calls a risk of ethnic cleansing, calls for accountability for violations, and has told its own institutions to step up emergency response.

  In their words: WAFA (Palestinian Authority cabinet statement) ↗

• Keep security controls while aid flows

  Who holds it: Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)

  COGAT says more than 75,000 tents and over 7,500 trucks of clothing, blankets, sanitation and medical supplies have entered Gaza under its winter plan, through the UN, aid groups, donors and the private sector. It says it is coordinating fuel and water repairs and is acting to stop Hamas from taking over aid meant for civilians.

  In their words: JDN (COGAT statement, in Hebrew) ↗

• Lift dual-use limits and open all crossings

  Who holds it: Norwegian Refugee Council and the Palestine Shelter Cluster

  The NRC says Israel lets in only 15 trucks of dual-use items a week, so shelter materials already in the pipeline would take more than seven months to arrive. It calls the situation a manmade crisis, says Israel must facilitate relief, and asks UN member states to press for all crossings to open and donors to close a $186.6 million gap.

  In their words: Norwegian Refugee Council ↗