Gaza’s New Year of Survival

The arrival of a new year is ordinarily marked by hope and renewal. In Gaza, however, 2026 has begun under the harsh sign of survival. For tens of thousands of displaced families, the turning of the calendar offers no respite from hunger, cold, and fear. Forty‑one‑year‑old Sana Issa sits inside a makeshift shelter fashioned from white plastic tarpaulin and worn cloth sheets, sharing the cramped space with her seven children. Damp blankets, frozen ground, and an uncertain future define her daily reality as the year opens.

Although a ceasefire exists on paper, its promise has scarcely touched the lives of the displaced. “I no longer know whom to blame—war, winter, or hunger,” Sana says quietly. “Before one crisis ends, another arrives.” For families like hers, dreams of the future have narrowed to the most basic needs: a daily meal, safe drinking water, and keeping children alive amid bombardment and instability.

Sana’s husband was killed in an Israeli strike in November 2024, leaving her to shoulder sole responsibility for their children. Forced to flee central Gaza’s al‑Bureij camp, the family sought refuge in Deir al‑Balah. Displacement, severe food shortages, and the collapse of medical services have turned every day into a series of painful choices—whether to search for food, tend to the injured, or protect children from the cold.

The year 2025 proved the bleakest of her life. In famine‑like conditions, securing even a single kilogram of flour became a triumph. “When I lay down to sleep, my only prayer was that there would be a little bread the next day,” she recalls. Watching her children weaken from hunger, she felt her own strength ebbing away.

Desperation drove Sana to approach aid distribution points operated under the US‑backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Fear accompanied every visit. According to United Nations figures, more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed near these centres before operations were halted in November 2024. Sana herself was injured by shrapnel at the Netzarim site, and her 17‑year‑old daughter suffered a chest wound at the Morag centre east of Rafah. Yet hunger repeatedly forced her back onto those perilous routes.

Since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, conditions have deteriorated year after year. “Two years should have been enough,” Sana says. “But each year is harsher than the last.” Today, Gaza’s demands are painfully modest: a tent that can withstand winter, a gas cylinder instead of scavenged firewood, and safe, nutritious food for children.

Snapshot of Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis

In the new year, Gaza’s people are not asking for prosperity or grand rebuilding plans. Their greatest hope is to secure the bare essentials of life. In a land scarred by conflict, each day of 2026 has become a renewed test of endurance, where survival itself is the only ambition.