Winter Deepens Civilian Hardship in Two Wars
Geneva: As winter tightens its grip on two of the world’s most volatile conflict zones, parallel strains are unfolding in Gaza and Ukraine, where civilians face mounting risks from cold weather, interrupted services and continuing military activity. What emerges from United Nations officials is a picture of two societies enduring extreme pressure under different forms of insecurity, linked by the same seasonal vulnerabilities: exposure to cold, disrupted supply lines, overwhelmed health systems, and populations forced to adapt to uncertainty rather than stability.
In Gaza, heavy rains have already swept through makeshift shelters, washing away what little many displaced families still possessed. Speaking from Cairo, Abeer Etefa of the World Food Programme said the weather had compounded shortages of food and basic items at a moment when hundreds of thousands remain in urgent need. Since 10 October, the World Food Programme has delivered more than 40,000 tons of food — approximately two-thirds of its monthly requirement — reaching over 530,000 people. Yet as Etefa described the erosion of livelihoods under winter conditions, the same theme echoed in Ukraine, where Jens Laerke of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that persistent Russian missile and drone attacks were undermining basic services and leaving families without reliable heat or drinking water.
Across both crises, access constraints remain a decisive factor. In Gaza, Etefa noted that several key routes were either closed or congested, limiting the ability to scale up food assistance despite the reopening of the Zikim crossing. Within Ukraine, Laerke said that in frontline areas such as Lyman, about 3,000 residents were now unreachable because continued strikes had cut them off entirely. Israel’s control of crossings into Gaza and Russia’s targeting of infrastructure in Ukraine generate different operational challenges, but the effect is similar: communities sliding deeper into winter with reduced predictability of assistance.
In both regions, families are confronting rising costs and shrinking options. From Gaza, World Food Programme spokesperson Martin Penner described markets where food was available but priced out of reach, with chicken costing around USD 20, and a mother dividing a single apple among four children. He said rations had fallen to roughly 75 per cent of their intended size. Laerke, in turn, noted that in Ukraine, millions of people were displaced and coping with nationwide power cuts, as energy infrastructure came under repeated attack. These shortages translate into daily decisions about heating, water and food — practical concerns that shape survival long before political questions do.
Health services in both places are undergoing severe strain, though for different reasons. Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, reported that at least 266 people had been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began and that only half of the enclave’s 36 hospitals were partially functional. No hospitals were operational in North Gaza, where an estimated 20,000 people remained. Twelve facilities were partially functioning in Gaza City. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization was setting up a desalination plant at Al-Shifa Hospital to support the only functioning hemodialysis unit for Gaza and North Gaza. In Ukraine, attacks affecting humanitarian convoys, warehouses and critical infrastructure have eroded the reliability of medical care. Laerke said the situation was getting worse, citing the UN Humanitarian Coordinator’s description of “energy terror.”
Inside Gaza, stock levels of essential medicines are rapidly depleting. According to the local Ministry of Health, 343 of 622 essential drug items were entirely out of stock, including 74 per cent of chemotherapy and blood disease medicines and 64 per cent of primary healthcare drugs. Rafah crossing remained closed, and inside the Strip, the blockage of the Salahuddin road has forced aid missions onto the coastal route, where delays and the risk of looting have increased. Similar impediments exist in Ukraine, where unsafe roads and ongoing strikes restrict access to civilians in need. The cumulative effect in both regions is a narrowing of corridors through which medical care, fuel, and supplies must pass.
Children remain among the most exposed, and United Nations officials drew parallel concerns about their safety. In Gaza, the first round of a catch-up immunisation campaign led by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the World Health Organization and partners vaccinated more than 13,700 children between 9 and 20 November. Of 6,827 children screened during the effort, 508 were identified as acutely malnourished and were referred for treatment. UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires confirmed that 1.6 million syringes had been cleared for delivery to support the campaign, while noting that at least 67 children had been killed in conflict-related incidents since the start of the ceasefire on 11 October. In Ukraine, Laerke said that repeated displacement had deprived children of safe places to play, learn or live, with many families forced to move multiple times as attacks continued.
Evacuations remain a critical gap. Over 16,500 patients in Gaza need treatment outside the Strip, and Dr Peeperkorn stressed the urgency of opening medical evacuation routes, particularly towards the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which remain the most practical destinations. UNICEF estimated that around 4,000 children in Gaza were awaiting evacuation for urgent care. In Ukraine, although the circumstances differ, the pattern of civilians trapped by insecurity repeats itself: populations in frontline communities unable to leave due to ongoing bombardment, and humanitarian organisations limited by risk to personnel and assets.
United Nations officials emphasised coordination mechanisms shaping their operations. Penner said the World Food Programme discussed its movements with the Civil-Military Coordination Centre and Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. Not all of the 800 trucks reportedly entering Gaza daily were humanitarian vehicles, he noted; the World Food Programme alone was averaging about 100. Dr Peeperkorn underlined the organisation’s “One Gaza” approach, despite the de facto internal division created by the “yellow line.” In Ukraine, Laerke said humanitarian convoys had themselves come under attack, complicating planning and requiring repeated adjustments to relief strategies.
As the briefing drew to a close, United Nations Information Service spokesperson Rolando Gómez said the Security Council resolution on Gaza provided a potential path forward but stressed that practical action on the ground remained essential. Additional administrative updates were delivered: an upcoming United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report on the Palestinian economy would be released on 25 November; the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS would brief the media later the same day; treaty bodies continued their scheduled reviews; and the United Nations Secretary-General was attending the G20 Summit in Johannesburg before travelling to Luanda for the African Union–European Union meeting. World Television Day was also noted.
Across Gaza and Ukraine, the winter ahead is weighted with operational challenges and civilian exposure. The circumstances differ in cause and scale, but the themes emerging from the United Nations briefing — disrupted access, weakened services, strained humanitarian systems and families facing rising risks — bind the two regions in parallel struggles for basic stability under deepening cold.
– global bihari bureau
