UN: ‘Israel’s’ Aid Blockade Leaving Gazans to Freeze, Starve to Death

By Staff, Agencies

The UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has warned that Palestinians in Gaza are being left “alone, freezing and starving” as a severe winter storm strikes the territory, while shelter assistance remains largely blocked two months into a ceasefire repeatedly violated by “Israel”.

Her comments came after the Norwegian Refugee Council [NRC] reported on December 10 that only a minimal amount of shelter material had entered Gaza due to continuing restrictions on humanitarian access. According to NRC, aid agencies have been able to bring in just 15,600 tents for about 88,000 people, while 1.29 million Palestinians still require shelter ahead of winter. Nearly 4,000 pallets of shelter materials have been rejected, and international organizations say they remain unable to bring in heavy machinery, tools, and other items needed to reinforce camps before flooding hits.

The alert coincides with the arrival of Storm Byron, a severe weather system that has already caused widespread flooding in displacement sites. Humanitarian agencies estimate that 761 sites sheltering around 850,000 people are at risk, many of them in low-lying or coastal areas where previous storms flooded tents with sewage and solid waste.

In a post shared on X, Albanese wrote that “Palestinians in Gaza are literally left alone, freezing and starving,” adding that the world is failing to stop “this nightmare” for a population already pushed to extreme conditions since the start of "Israel’s" genocidal campaign.

Albanese, an international lawyer appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory in 2022, has been one of the most outspoken UN officials on the Gaza crisis. She has repeatedly stated that "Israel" is committing genocide, a conclusion she detailed in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly earlier this year titled "Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime." In her latest post, she said Palestinians are being left "alone, freezing and starving," describing the ongoing humanitarian obstruction as part of "the genocide being committed" against them.

Humanitarian organizations say the situation contradicts “Israel’s” obligations under international law. In an advisory opinion issued in October 2025, the International Court of Justice found that “Israel”, as the occupying power, is required to allow and facilitate rapid, unimpeded humanitarian relief and may not arbitrarily block items essential for civilian survival, including shelter equipment, sanitation supplies, and winterization materials. The Court also stressed that depriving civilians of the means to withstand environmental hazards violates the Geneva Conventions.