As a powerful winter storm hits the Gaza Strip, the United Nations (UN) warns that more than 800.000 residents are at risk of catastrophic flooding. Even the first wave of heavy rainfall has already flooded improvised camps, caused structures to collapse, and further worsened an already dire humanitarian situation.
Life under tarpaulin: “Every day I cry for my children”
In an improvised tent settlement in Gaza, water constantly pours through the cracks in the tarp that Ghadir al-Adham shares with her husband and six children. Her family, displaced during the war, is still waiting for the reconstruction of their destroyed home to begin.
“We live a life of humiliation,” Ghadir said in an interview. “We need shelters, we need houses. We want concrete walls that will keep us warm. Every day I sit and cry because of my children.”
Her story reflects the fate of thousands of families who, even two months after the ceasefire, continue to live in conditions far from humane. Gaza is stuck in the first phase of the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump’s peace plan, with the territory divided between the warring sides, has made no clear progress toward reconstruction and political stabilization.
Reconstruction and formation of a new government at a standstill
Progress in reconstruction and political reorganization in Gaza depends on moving to the next phase of Trump’s plan, but Israel’s key condition has not yet been met – the discovery of the last Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili.
Ran Gvili, a police officer wounded in the shoulder who joined the defense of Kibbutz Alumim during the Hamas attack on October 7th, went missing in the chaos of the conflict. Last year, his parents, Talik and Itzik, were informed that their son likely did not survive, but his body has never been found.
The roads leading to their home in Meitar are covered with yellow flags and banners honoring the missing hostages.
“They stole our child,” his mother says. “They know where he is, they’re just keeping us in uncertainty,” claims Itzik, convinced that Hamas is withholding information for political bargaining.
Hamas denies these claims, calling them an attempt by Israel to avoid implementing the agreement. But without finding Gvili’s body, political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is growing – many believe it would be politically impossible to continue the peace process while even one hostage remains missing.
Difficult decisions ahead for both sides
Entering the second phase of the peace agreement brings painful concessions; For Hamas, surrendering weapons and political control; For Israel, withdrawing the army and handing over security to international forces.
According to retired Israeli general Israel Ziv, neither side is in a hurry.
“Israel and Hamas have a shared interest in slowing down the process,” he says. “Hamas doesn’t want to lose control, and the Israeli right doesn’t want to explain to voters why the army is pulling back.”
Ziv warns that time is running out: “Hamas is reorganizing and growing stronger. If we wait too long, we will miss a unique opportunity.”
The first major question: disarming Hamas
Disarming Hamas is considered a key point – without it, no country will agree to send stabilization forces to Gaza, and reconstruction in areas under Hamas control will not begin. Despite U.S. insistence, Netanyahu recently expressed doubt that international forces would even be able to take on that task:
“Our friends in the U.S. want to try to establish international forces. There are things they can do, but not everything. Perhaps not even the most important thing.”
Trump pushes the process forward
The U.S. is increasingly pushing for the implementation of the plan. Gaza is currently divided by the so-called “yellow line,” which marks the boundaries of Israeli control during the first phase of the agreement. Israel’s chief of staff recently called it “the new border line,” prompting criticism that Israel plans to maintain long-term control.
President Trump announced that early next year he will reveal members of the new “Gaza Peace Committee,” saying that “everyone wants to be part of it.”
A new temporary settlement in Rafah: a transitional solution or a new form of division?
Under pressure from Washington, Israel has begun clearing debris in southern Rafah to prepare the ground for a new temporary settlement. According to reports, accommodation could be provided for tens of thousands of residents, but only on the condition that they enter an Israeli-controlled zone and pass security checks.
Some see this as an attempt to pull Gaza residents into territory under Israeli control, further isolating Hamas. A small number of people have already moved into these zones, into camps guarded by Israeli allies.
But most Palestinians – even those critical of Hamas – refuse to accept life under Israeli administration.
If the second phase of Trump’s peace plan does not begin, Gaza could remain permanently divided between Israeli-controlled areas and those where Hamas still holds influence.
For residents like Ghadir and her children, who now struggle with flooding, cold, and uncertainty, such an outcome would mean yet another lost chance for a normal life.
