While the cease-fire ­has brought a sense of relief to the people of Gaza, the need for humanitarian assistance is critical, particularly during these winter months when most of the population is homeless.

Mennonite Central Committee has provided waterproof tarps for 500 families in Gaza this winter, but much more assistance is needed.

An official from the Palestinian Authority has estimated temporary housing for Gaza’s population of more than 2 million will cost $6.5 billion, even before long-term reconstruction begins.

Winds off the Mediterranean Sea are especially cold for those living in makeshift camps. The rain and the chilly temperatures at night can be miserable, said Seth Malone, an MCC representative for Jordan, Palestine and Israel.

Under the cease-fire terms, Israel is required to allow at least 600 truckloads of aid to enter Gaza each day of the initial six-week cease-fire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of those trucks are supposed to go to Gaza’s north, which has near-famine conditions.

Despite numerous obstacles imposed by Israel, MCC is diligently working to deliver food shipments to Al-Najd to support 4,000 families in northern Gaza. Since the cease-fire, many people are returning north to camp where their homes once stood. The food is funded from MCC’s account at Canadian Foodgrains Bank and includes matching funds from the Government of Canada and the Humanitarian Coalition.

“We are dedicated to meeting immediate needs and providing what we can to help people through the initial phase of recovery,” Malone said. “But the road to reconstruction is going to be long, and it’s an even longer road to peace and justice.”

Receiving food and shelter goes a long way toward helping people have hope for the future. MCC partner Al-Najd built a shelter for 21-year-old Ahmed. He was caught in a bombing in December 2023 while on the way to the grocery store. Both of his legs had to be amputated.

Tragedy has since followed him. During his stay at the hospital, his wife and their young son and daughter visited him, but as they walked home, more shelling occurred. A driver, who lost control of a car in the chaos, hit and killed their young son.

After Ahmed was released from the hospital, he and his wife and daughter found a place to stay close to the Mediterranean Sea, where Al-Najd built a shelter for them.

“I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “My wife, daughter and myself would have been soaked. They brought me covers, blankets, bedding. Thank God. May God reward them with everything good.”

Despite the calamities he and his wife have endured, Ahmed hopes to walk again with prosthetic limbs and get a job so that his wife no longer needs to be the sole provider.

“First and foremost, I wish the war would stop and our lives would change for the better,” he said. “We want to live. We are human beings. We want to live, by God, nothing more.”

MCC’s advocacy staff is working with legislators and in collaboration with other humanitarian agencies to ensure a permanent cease-fire, to support a Palestinian-led reconstruction of Gaza and to champion new opportunities for peace and justice for both Palestinians and Israelis.