| Claim | Who says it | Figure |
|---|
| Tents entered under winter plan | COGAT (Israel) | 91,000+ |
| Truckloads of winter supplies | COGAT (Israel) | 8,200+ |
| Tents staged outside Gaza | UN OCHA | 150,000+ |
| Tents needed after storm | Gaza Civil Defense | 300,000 |
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"The figures in the table come from different parties and measure different things, so they cannot be netted against each other. COGAT's numbers are cumulative since its winter plan began. OCHA's figure counts tents bought by aid groups and governments that have not yet entered. The Civil Defense figure is its own estimate of need.\n\n**Israel's position.** The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military body that oversees crossings, said in a post on X that it was monitoring conditions and coordinating with the UN and international groups, according to [Israel National News](https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/435849). Since its Gaza Winterization Plan began, it said, more than 91,000 tents and more than 8,200 trucks of tarpaulins, blankets, winter clothing and other equipment have entered. It listed 12 vacuum trucks, vaccine doses, and fuel and engine oil for pumping stations. \"Israel will not permit the entry of equipment that could be used to develop terrorist capabilities,\" COGAT said. It added that large-scale reconstruction cannot begin until Hamas fully disarms.\n\nIsraeli security officials went further in comments to [The Jerusalem Post](https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-914223). They said mobile homes and building materials will not be allowed in while Hamas refuses to disarm. \"Even now, Hamas is exploiting the aid entering the Gaza Strip to rebuild its military wing,\" one official said. The same official said conditions are \"the best it has been since the war began,\" because there is no major ground maneuvering and fewer limits on general goods than in earlier winters.\n\n**The UN's position.** OCHA says aid groups spent months preparing, staging more than 150,000 tents, 300,000 tarpaulins and 500,000 blankets outside Gaza. But it says \"Israeli restrictions on the entry of supplies and equipment and funding shortfalls\" limited what was inside when the rain came. About 117,000 of the waiting tents are with the Egyptian Relief Committee in Al-Arish, it said. The agency's top requests are more Israeli approvals for shelter items, engine oil, spare parts and heavy machinery, plus more money.\n\n**Aid groups.** Save the Children made the sharpest charge. \"This is not simply the result of bad weather,\" Ahmad Alhendawi, its regional director, said in a [statement](https://www.savethechildren.net/news/rains-flood-gaza-israels-restrictions-leave-over-half-million-children-without-safe-shelter). \"Tents, shelter kits and fuel are waiting at Gaza's borders while children sleep in floodwater, because the Israeli authorities are blocking their entry. This is a choice, and children are paying the price.\" The group cited a Palestine Shelter Cluster assessment that about 1.2 million people, including more than 560,000 children, live in \"critical or catastrophic\" shelter conditions. It also said 60% of the $283 million sought for winter preparedness is unfunded.\n\n**Gaza's authorities.** Gaza's Civil Defense has called for winter rescue equipment, machinery, plastic sheeting, tents and prefabricated mobile shelters, according to OCHA. It says at least 300,000 tents are needed and that more than 2,000 buildings are at risk of collapse, Al Jazeera reported. Hamas announced in July that it was dissolving its government in favor of a UN-backed technocratic committee, but [Al Jazeera reported](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/7/what-is-the-new-gaza-administration-as-hamas-dissolves-government) that service staff stayed in their posts and Israel has not let the committee enter Gaza. Israeli officials and media still describe the Civil Defense and the media office as Hamas-run. The Jerusalem Post reported that Hamas blamed Israel for the flood damage and that COGAT had prepared for what Israeli officials called a coordinated Hamas campaign on social media.\n\n## What the evidence can and cannot settle\n\nSome points are not in dispute. Aid has entered, tents remain outside, and a large share of Gaza's people are living in shelters that a single storm can wreck. Funding is also short by the UN's and Save the Children's own accounts, which means not every gap can be traced to crossing policy.\n\nOther points are contested or unverified. COGAT's figures are its own and cover a longer period than the storm. The UN and aid groups do not specify, in these statements, which shipments Israel has refused or delayed, so readers cannot match the 150,000 waiting tents to particular denials. The Israeli claim that Hamas diverts civilian goods for military use is a security assessment that this article could not independently verify. The Gaza casualty and damage figures come from Gaza bodies that Israel describes as Hamas-run, and OCHA labels its own numbers preliminary.\n\nThe policy disagreement is clearer. Save the Children says the ceasefire announced more than a year ago provided for caravans as a sturdier alternative to tents, and that Israeli authorities have repeatedly blocked them. Israeli officials link mobile homes and rebuilding to Hamas's disarmament. That makes the shelter question part of the larger stalemate over who governs Gaza, which 567politics covered in its report on [stalled governance plans and Gaza police deaths](https://567politics.com/news/palestine-gaza-police-strike-hamas-governance-ncag-stalled-november-2026) and in its report on [stalled diplomacy over the next phase of the ceasefire](https://567politics.com/news/gaza-diplomacy-stalls-un-yellow-line-advances-aid-trucks-ceasefire-november-2026).\n\n## Background: a fourth winter in tents\n\nLast week, 567politics reported that Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov was seeking Israeli approval for winter shelter as Gaza faced a [fourth winter in tents](https://567politics.com/news/palestine-gaza-fourth-winter-tents-mladenov-israel-shelter-restrictions-november-2026). The storm arrived before that request was resolved. Separately, cuts at UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, have drawn protests in Gaza. Save the Children's statement called UNRWA \"the backbone of the humanitarian response,\" a point 567politics examined in its report on [UNRWA staff protests over job cuts](https://567politics.com/news/palestine-unrwa-gaza-staff-march-job-cuts-plo-saunders-resign-danon-un-november-2026).\n\nThe rainy season in Gaza usually runs through March. OCHA said partners had installed more than 135,000 sandbags since September, including 50,000 during this storm. Save the Children said more than 464,000 people live in displacement sites at high risk of flooding, especially in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and parts of Gaza City. More storms are expected.\n\n## What to watch\n\nThe next tests are practical. One is whether Israel approves more of the tents, pumps, engine oil and heavy machinery that OCHA lists as urgent. Another is whether donors close the winter funding gap. A third is whether any agreement on Gaza's governance or Hamas's weapons opens the way for the caravans and rebuilding that Israel says depend on disarmament. Each side has set out its terms in public. The weekend's floods show how little margin Gaza's displaced families have while those terms remain unmet.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}