Gaza Humanitarian Response | Situation Report No. 56

29 Dec 2025

As of 18:00 on 28 December 2025, unless otherwise noted

This report, issued daily from Monday to Saturday, outlines efforts and progress made by the UN and its partners to scale up humanitarian response across the Gaza Strip under the ceasefire that entered into effect on 10 October 2025. For all situation reports see here.

HIGHLIGHTS

Heavy rain since 11 December has affected over 56,000 families across the Gaza Strip. Humanitarian partners have provided emergency aid to 14,000 families and deployed equipment to clear sewage from residential areas.
In Gaza city, water levels at the Sheikh Radwan lagoon have risen from 1.8 to 2.2 metres. Pumps are operating to prevent the lagoon from reaching critical levels, requiring about 7,000 litres of fuel per day at Sheikh Radwan alone.
From 21 to 27 December, Shelter Cluster partners reached nearly 21,000 households (about 116,000 people) with emergency shelter materials and other essential items across all governorates. Of these, 3,810 households received tents and other items as part of the flood response, while regular distributions supported about 17,000 households with tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, and cash and voucher assistance.
As of 28 December, Food Security Sector partners had reached 223,000 families (approximately 1.1 million people) with general food assistance as part of the December monthly cycle.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Between 27 and 28 December, airstrikes, shelling and gunfire reportedly continued in several areas across the Gaza Strip, including Beit Lahia, Gaza city, Al Bureij, Khan Younis and Rafah. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH), as of 11:00 on 29 December, one Palestinian had been killed and three others injured across the Gaza Strip over the previous 48 hours. Overall, since the ceasefire in October 2025 and as of 29 December, 414 people were killed and 1,145 injured, MoH reports.

Meanwhile, Palestinians across the Strip continue to face severe challenges due to recent rainstorms since 11 December. Some 56,051 families across 464 locations and 56 neighbourhoods have been affected. In response to flood-related alerts from affected families, humanitarian partners have distributed emergency packages (tents, blankets, hygiene kits, etc.) to 14,094 families at 18 locations across the Gaza Strip. The UN and its partners are also mobilizing heavy equipment to pump overflowing sewage away from residential areas.

Partners leading on emergency shelter assistance report on lists of buildings at risk of collapse where people are currently residing. These war-damaged structures pose a serious safety risk to occupants and surrounding communities and require demolition due to the high risk of collapse. In response, partners have already initiated actions to provide shelter assistance and are engaging with affected families to find suitable solutions. While some families have expressed willingness to evacuate, the limited availability of safe and suitable land remains a key constraint. Coordination with relevant actors is ongoing to identify feasible solutions and mitigate risks.

In parallel, humanitarian teams are also responding to the needs of hundreds of people newly displaced from At Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza city, where military operations have triggered further displacement. People who remain in or have returned to As Sanafour area of the neighbourhood, typically because of lack of space elsewhere, report significant challenges in accessing water, food and basic services.

UNITED NATIONS-COORDINATED AID ENTRY^*

On 28 December, at least 2,732 pallets of aid administered by the UN and its partners were offloaded at Gaza’s crossings, based on data retrieved from the UN 2720 Mechanism dashboard at 15:00 on 29 December. About 77 per cent of these pallets contained food supplies, followed by water and sanitation (WASH) items (14 per cent), nutrition supplies (6 per cent), and shelter items (2 per cent). At least 67 truckloads were offloaded at the Kerem Shalom Crossing in the south and 58 at the Zikim Crossing in the north.

Between 24 and 28 December,** UNOPS international monitors deployed at Gaza’s crossings verified the collection of at least 14,619 pallets of aid from the Kerem Shalom Crossing. These comprised inter alia 10,496 pallets of food assistance, 3,855 pallets of shelter assistance items such as tents, winter clothes, bedding items and kitchenware, 268 pallets of WASH items such as hygiene kits, diapers and water tanks.

The above data excludes bilateral donations and the commercial sector.

Between 27 and 28 December, five of nine humanitarian movements inside Gaza requiring coordination with Israeli authorities were fully facilitated and completed, while one was partially completed. Two missions encountered impediments but were eventually finalized, and one mission was canceled by the organizers.

In one of these nine missions, UN team managed to collect 422,280 litres of diesel at Kerem Shalom Crossing on 28 December. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October 2025, the UN has brought in an average of procured, delivered and distributed 10.9 million liters of diesel and benzine into Gaza. Fuel is indispensable for survival in Gaza. It powers hospitals, water wells, telecommunication, and bakeries, and enables all aspects of lifesaving services to continue.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

The below are preliminary updates shared by Clusters at the time of reporting and will be reconciled and aggregated in the coming days as Clusters receive more data from the capillary network of partners active on the ground.

Food Security

Between 1 and 28 December, Food Security Sector partners reached 223,000 families (about 1.1 million people) with the monthly general food assistance for December via 60 distribution points across the Strip.
Hot meal distribution continues at pace. As of 27 December, 1,650,000 meals were prepared and delivered daily by 25 partners through 212 kitchens – 447,000 meals by 49 kitchens in northern Gaza and 1,203,000 by 163 kitchens.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Fuel continues to be a major concern for the operation of WASH facilities, particularly with heavy rains expected to persist throughout the winter. In Gaza city, water levels at the Sheikh Radwan lagoon have risen from 1.8 to 2.2 metres. Pumps are operating to prevent the lagoon from reaching critical levels, requiring 7,000 litres of fuel per day for Sheikh Radwan alone, in addition to fuel needed to keep mobile and sewage pump stations functioning.
The first batch of vehicles procured for the Solid Waste Management sector in Gaza arrived on 26 December, consisting of eight dump trucks. In addition, vehicle tires entered on 25 December. This will help sustain waste collection and transportation services. However, the lack of sufficient and sustainable amount of fuel in Gaza is preventing the planned scale-up of waste collection activities from using the new trucks.
Last week, materials essential to keep desalination plants functional have entered Gaza, to continue supplying 50 per cent of the necessary drinking water. These include essential desalination chemicals, chlorine solution for water disinfection, and cartridge filters critical for continued operations at the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, the largest seawater desalination plant in southern Gaza. Additionally, five pallets of filters and 42 pallets of chemical supplies will be immediately utilized to effectively keep the desalination plant running.

Shelter

From 21 to 27 December, Shelter Cluster partners continued distributing emergency shelter and Non-Food Items (NFI) assistance across the Gaza Strip, supporting affected populations in all governorates. Partners reached almost 21,000 households (approximately 116,000 people) through joint and regular distribution modalities:
- Some 3,810 households received tents, blankets, and tarpaulins, as part of the joint distribution response to recent flooding.
- Regular shelter and NFI distributions reached about 17,000 households, delivering 1,644 tents, 21,899 tarpaulins, 18,626 blankets, and 5,719 mattresses.
- More than 2,000 households were supported through cash and voucher assistance (CVA).
A Shelter Cluster partner has completed repairing 50 housing units through cash for repair assistance in Deir al Balah and is preparing for an additional 50 housing units in Gaza city.

Protection

General Protection
- Between 27 and 28 December, protection partners provided psychosocial support, legal counseling, disability inclusion and rehabilitation, cash assistance, and winterization-linked protection actions coordinated with Shelter, WASH, and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) actors to at least 852 people.
Child Protection
- Child Protection (CP) partners continued delivering life-saving services across the Strip amid severe winter conditions, access constraints, and damaged infrastructure. Between 27 and 28 December, CP partners reached over 1,600 children and caregivers through child protection case management, MHPSS services, psychological first aid, community-based child protection awareness, and positive parenting activities across Gaza city, the Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Al Mawasi area.
- More than 60 high-risk children, including unaccompanied and separated children and survivors of violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect, received individual case management support.
- As part of the winterization and protection response, CP partners distributed winter clothing to approximately 5,000 children, winter shoes to over 2,000 children, and blankets, hygiene and dignity kits, and diapers (including for young children and children with disabilities) to more than 1,000 children and caregivers. Child identification bracelets and child-friendly materials, such as recreational and drawing kits, were distributed to support child safety, family tracing, and psychosocial well-being.
Gender-Based Violence
- Between 27 and 28 December, partners addressing gender-based violence (GBV) provided the following services:
  - Psychosocial support, including individual and group counseling sessions, case management, legal awareness, and cash assistance to 2,114 women and girls.
  - Awareness-raising activities on addressing GBV types, safe referrals, and available services were also conducted in shelters and Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS), reaching 4,578 people during the above-mentioned period.
  - Distribution of dignity kits and menstrual hygiene materials to 800 women and girls, and tents to 10 women to meet urgent needs.
- As part of the ongoing multisectoral response for households affected by flooding, 3,500 dignity kits were committed to support women between 27 and 28 December. Close coordination with the GBV Taskforce continues to ensure survivors of GBV and female-headed households affected by the storm receive comprehensive services aimed at reducing protection risks.
Mine Action
- Between 27 and 28 December, Mine Action partners conducted four explosive hazard assessments in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis in support of rubble removal efforts and for partner activity support, while explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) sessions continued across Gaza, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates.
- During the same period, a Training of Trainers on EORE was conducted for a humanitarian agency.

Education

On 27 December, a pilot school assessment was carried out in six public schools to test the assessment tool and process for identifying schools eligible for temporary learning tent installation and light rehabilitation, aimed at establishing temporary learning spaces (TLSs) under the Education Cluster scale-up plan. This pilot followed an orientation session on 23 December, during which assessment teams were trained on public school damage assessment tools, including EORE. While the ultimate goal is to assess all accessible public schools in Gaza, the 27 December activity served as a pilot phase to refine the tools and methodology before full-scale implementation.
The number of TLSs continue to expand. In recent days, one additional TLS was established in Khan Younis, serving 500 school-aged children with support from six teachers. This brings the total to 418 operational TLSs, with a current capacity of 230,600 learners supported by 5,471 teachers. While this steady progress is encouraging and offers hope to many families, significant joint efforts are still required to ensure that all children have access to learning opportunities. The need to expand learning spaces remains critical but depends on the entry of required supplies.

* All figures solely refer to UN and partner assistance dispatched through the UN-coordinated system. They are preliminary and will be reconciled in the course of the ceasefire. Supplies entering through bilateral donations and the commercial sector are not reflected.

** Double asterisks indicate that a figure, sentence, or section has been rectified, added, or retracted after the initial publication of this update.