A GRANDMOTHER and her five-year-old grandson burned to death in Gaza when their tent caught fire, as thousands of Palestinians battle harrowing winter conditions in flimsy makeshift housing and the humanitarian crisis deepens.

The nylon tent in Yarmouk caught fire on Thursday night from cooking, a neighbour said.

Ashraf al-Suwair said he woke up to the sound of screaming as his neighbours shouted: “Fire! Fire!” He said the nylon is like fuel, easy to ignite. 

“We need a good place that suits the people and the children of Gaza, instead of burning to death,” he said.

As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed almost daily by the Israelis and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating.

Over the past weeks, cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities, causing flooding, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing buildings damaged in Israeli bombardment to collapse.

Unicef says at least six children have now died of weather-related causes, including a four-year-old who died in a building collapse. At least three children have died of hypothermia, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce. Figures recently released by Israel’s military suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.

Palestinians have long called for mobile homes and caravans to be allowed in to protect them against living in impractical and worn out tents. In Yarmouk, people live in nylon tents near a rubbish dump.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) condemned Israel’s decision today to ban it and over 30 other international aid agencies from entering Gaza.

The international medical charity said the move was “a cynical and calculated attempt to prevent organisations from providing services in Gaza and the West Bank, in breach of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.

“Denying medical assistance to civilians is unacceptable under any circumstances and it is appalling to use humanitarian aid as a tool of policy or collective punishment.”

Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.

On Friday, the Palestinian Prisoners media office said Israel carried out wide-scale raids across the territory including Ramallah and Hebron. Nearly 50 people were detained.

Israel’s military said that there were arrests made of people “involved in terrorist activity.”

This follows the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most in the Ramallah area.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society says that Israel has arrested 7,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem in 2025, and 21,000 since October 7, 2023.