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According to the Gaza Government Media Office, more than 288,000 families are facing a shelter crisis as a result of Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Palestinians are suffering in conditions that “no society can endure,” according to a statement released on Monday from the local authorities. Tens of thousands of tents have been submerged in the past few days due to heavy rain.

Palestinians have been subject to “the most dangerous humanitarian disaster” since the start of the conflict, according to the government media office, which Israel has “deliberately contributed to adâncening the catastrophe” through its obstruct to essential shelter supplies.

The Israeli occupation continues to commit crimes against civilians, it said.

“We hold the occupation completely responsible for the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced people who are without safe shelter or basic services in the harsh winters, and for its catastrophic crime of requiring the occupation to completely close the crossings and preventing the entry of shelter supplies.”

The first winter storm to hit Gaza on Thursday caused the flooding to start. More than 13, 000 homes were immediately affected, according to the United Nations.

As the rain continued over the following days, conditions continued to worsen, overtaking the worn-out tents that have been a shelter for displaced families for almost two years.

Lower elevations than the surrounding areas are where many displacement camps are located. Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera reported on Monday that “some areas are completely submerged” as a result of the water’s rush into them from all directions.

The enclave requires 300, 000 tents and mobile homes to provide basic shelter, according to Gaza authorities, who have “clearly stated” for months.

Despite a ceasefire that ended on October 10, Israel has obstructed their entry.

UN figures show that during the war, more than 80% of Gaza’s buildings suffered damage or destruction, leading to significant displacement.

According to experts in the field of human rights, Israel’s strategy amounts to genocide. According to the UN, “deliberately inflicting on]a] group conditions of life intended to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part” are among the acts that fall under the category of “genocide.”

The government media office criticized Israel on Monday for “remaining its policy of restrainting and preventing the entry of tents, tarps, and plastic covers,” keeping border crossings closed, and “rejecting the humanitarian protocol” it signed as part of the ceasefire.

The Israeli military organization COGAT, which coordinates aid deliveries to Gaza, has repeatedly refuted claims that it is restricting humanitarian supplies.

However, UNRWA’s head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, described the situation as “misery on top of misery” last week and warned that Gaza’s fragile shelters “quickly flood, soaking people’s belongings.”

UNRWA reported that it has enough food in Jordan and Egypt to fill 6, 000 trucks, including food, to last three months’ entire population in Gaza. Due to Israeli restrictions, only 500 to 600 of the daily entry requirements for aid trucks are made in the territory.

According to Israeli authorities’ import restrictions, UNRWA has also stated that it cannot import pens and notebooks into the territory.

Around 260, 000 Palestinian families, or nearly 1.5 million people, were exposed to vulnerability as the winter approached, according to a warning issued by aid organizations in early November.

By imposing restrictions, UNRWA senior UNRWA official Natalie Boucly claimed that Israel is still violating international humanitarian law. cited blatantly the Fourth Geneva Convention and a recent decision by the International Court of Justice that Israel was required to provide for Palestinians with “essential supplies of daily life.”

During a visit to Jordanian aid warehouses this month, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that Israel has “no excuse” for halting humanitarian supplies.

Aid restrictions are entirely political, according to the statement.

The University of Manchester professor Mukesh Kapila claimed that the restrictions are made with intention rather than by reason of necessity.

He told Al Jazeera, “This is entirely a political act because Gaza is one of the easiest areas to reach,” citing the humanitarian crisis in which it is occurring.

“Human suffering in Gaza is compounded by Israeli actions to keep up pressure on Hamas on the hostages and possibly to end it,” says the statement.

In a statement released by the government media office, the US president called on the mediator nations to “take serious and immediate action to force the occupation to abide by what it signed” in terms of the truce and humanitarian protocol.

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Every morning for Israa Abu Reyala and her husband, Mohammad, is a battle to find decent food for their five daughters, the youngest three of whom are triplets born during the war.

The ceasefire agreement, which took effect about a month ago, has made little difference in the family’s daily life, Israa, 31, and Mohammad, 33, told Al Jazeera.

“The war was a nightmare,” Israa says as she feeds her little ones in her parents’ home in Deir el-Balah. “But the hardest part by far has been finding food, milk, and supplies for my three babies.”

Israa learned she was pregnant with triplets two months before the war.

“We were planning for a third child, not three at once,” she laughs, exchanging a look with her husband.

Their concerns at the time – about income, rent, and how to manage three infants – feel like paradise now compared to what they lived through during the pregnancy and birth, they say.

‘I’m worried’

Israa says her triplets, who are now 19 months old, don’t even know what an egg looks – much less tastes – like. They’ve eaten chicken a few times, but only when sharing meals with extended family.

The couple had high hopes for the ceasefire that ostensibly ended Israel’s war on Gaza and stipulated that Israel would allow food and aid supplies to enter the beleaguered enclave.

But instead of more and higher-quality food entering Gaza, they found little of nutritional value.

Mohammad says the markets are “stuffed with commercial goods” like biscuits, chocolate, candy, snacks, nuts, and canned foods, with few fruits and vegetables that enter at prices many can’t afford.

“But what about the quality? What about proper food? And the prices are insane,” he adds.

“Where are the eggs? Where is meat and poultry? Fresh dairy and cheese? Everything healthy, nutritious, or essential for children doesn’t exist, and if it does, it’s in tiny quantities and disappears instantly,” Israa says.

Humanitarian officials call the state Israel has imposed on Gaza since it launched its genocidal war on it in October 2023, engineered starvation – a policy aimed at weakening the population physically and psychologically until society collapses from within.

Dr Khalil al-Degran, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that Israel has not adhered to humanitarian protocols requiring the entry of food and medical aid into Gaza, with quantities entering now “only 15 to 20 percent of actual needs”.

He adds that the products Israel allows in are nonessentials, like chips and instant noodles, which lack vital nutrients.

Markets remain empty of meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, and most protein and fat sources, he says, calling it “clear engineered starvation”.

Israa says her girls are getting more to eat now, but she still worries because of the severe lack of nutritious food.

“I’m worried about my health, too,” she says. “I did lab tests last month and the specialist told me I’m in the early stages of malnutrition.”

A premature birth

Ten-year-old Toleen says she will never forget the tanks and Israeli soldiers she had to walk past with her parents, hands up in the air, holding white flags.

She and her six-year-old sister, Jana, had fled with their parents from one displacement shelter to another for weeks before they fled south on foot through what Israel called “the safe corridor”.

They tried to stay in the north, leaving their home in Shati refugee camp for a UNRWA school in al-Nasr – but Israeli tanks kept advancing, and the family had to keep fleeing.

So one day in November 2023, they headed south to Israa’s parents’ home in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, where she spent the rest of her pregnancy and delivery, struggling with malnutrition and the fear of Israeli bombs.

They stayed there until a ceasefire in January this year, when they went back to Gaza City, only to be caught by a famine caused by Israel’s blocking of the entry of all aid supplies.

On March 28, 2024, two weeks before her scheduled caesarean section, she was woken up at night by labour pains, but the war was raging, with intense Israeli bombardment in nearby Nuseirat.

Moving at night was dangerous, and they had to call the ambulance service repeatedly, telling them they were expecting triplets, before Israa was taken to al-Awda Hospital for an emergency c-section.

Her daughters, Keraz, Kifah, and Jumana were born, one weighing two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) and two weighing in at 1.9 kilogrammes (4.2 pounds), well within the average for healthy triplets.

“Giving birth to healthy babies in a war felt like a miracle,” she says.

Dr al-Degran says most pregnant and breastfeeding women face acute anaemia caused by a lack of food and supplements, with many giving birth prematurely or miscarrying.

Once home, the struggle to find baby formula, diapers, and clothes for the newborns began.

The triplets needed about one can of formula per day, which their severely malnourished mother had to supplement by breastfeeding them. Her health collapsed.

“My body was exhausted and hungry,” Israa says.

“These three … I cried as they cried from hunger,” she says, looking at her triplets playing nearby.

“‘Nanna, nanna, nanna,’ that’s the sound they made asking for food, day and night. I can still hear it.”

Israa and her husband spiralled.

“I used to escape into the street from my babies’ screams, walking aimlessly, crying for hours,” she says.

Damage that may be irreversible

Al-Degran says Gaza has suffered chronic malnutrition throughout Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave.

He warns that even if essential foods were allowed in today, the damage done to children, especially infants, has already left long-term physical and cognitive consequences.

Israa’s daily struggle continues, as she divides a single bite of food into three portions for her three infants.

“This piece for one, this for the second, and this for the third … just so they quiet down a little. But then they start crying again. They don’t understand. They’re just hungry.”

Israa and Mohammad remain grateful for what little they have, though Israa cannot hide her heartbreak over Toleen and Jana, who she says have endured hunger and still tried to help her care for the babies.

The family’s only wish now is simple: “To see a semblance of a normal life again,” Israa says.

“Open crossings. Food. Supplies. Aid.