UN aid chief says life in Gaza remains ‘absolutely horrendous’ before ceasefire anniversary

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on Friday, 9 October, that life in Gaza remained ‘absolutely horrendous’ as the territory approached the first anniversary of its ceasefire. Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland while EU development ministers and humanitarian leaders met at Dublin Castle, he said more than 90% of people in Gaza were living in temporary shelters rather than homes.

Fletcher called the ceasefire a ‘step forward’, saying the UN had delivered one million hot meals a day and helped 100,000 children return to school since it began. But he said those gains had not resolved the shelter and water conditions confronting families, or the constraints on getting aid into Gaza.

What Fletcher said about shelter, water and aid

Three-quarters of people relied on trucked water and were living near sewage lakes, Fletcher told RTÉ. He described disease and other challenges alongside the shortage of permanent housing. Those proportions are his statements in the interview; RTÉ did not set out the underlying datasets or the dates on which they were measured.

Fletcher said the UN had only one functional crossing and needed greater access. He also called for restrictions affecting humanitarian organisations to be eased so their partners could operate. Funding was falling short as needs rose, he said, adding that the UN wanted rubble-clearing equipment brought into Gaza to help people rebuild and reach loved ones still beneath the debris.

UN report identifies flood risks at displacement sites

An October humanitarian report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs gives a more detailed account of shelter risks. After assessing more than 400 displacement sites, humanitarian partners identified 217 at medium-to-high risk of flooding. About 235,000 people were staying at those sites, according to OCHA. The figures concern specific assessed sites and are a different measure from Fletcher’s estimate of the share of Gaza’s population in temporary shelter.

OCHA also cited preliminary Shelter Cluster estimates of more than 4,000 unsafe buildings requiring full or partial demolition. More than 2,300 of those buildings remained occupied, sheltering nearly 44,000 people. The report said preparations for colder, rainier weather included clearing drainage, reinforcing shelters and repairing water and sanitation systems, but were constrained by insecurity, limited funding and restrictions on access and imports.

On drinking water, OCHA reported that 74% of Gaza’s population relied on trucked supplies, citing the WASH Cluster. It said production at two southern desalination plants had fallen to low levels, raising concerns about supplies for roughly 500,000 people. Its estimate and Fletcher’s account point to the same broad pressure on water services, though they should be read as separately reported measures.

Aid groups warn recovery remains out of reach

In a statement published on 9 October, the Norwegian Refugee Council said more than 100 humanitarian, human-rights and civil-society organisations had warned that continuing violence and limits on aid, equipment and building materials were preventing recovery. That is the coalition’s assessment. Palestinian NGO Network board member Mohsen Abu Ramadan said local organisations were responding to immense needs despite damaged offices, displaced staff and shrinking budgets, and called for protection and flexible funding.

The coalition said none of Gaza’s 36 hospitals was fully functioning and more than 18,500 patients needed medical evacuation; it attributed the evacuation figure to the UN. It also said 1.4 million people faced crisis-level hunger or worse through the end of the year, while hundreds of thousands of families faced winter in tents, makeshift shelters or damaged homes. These figures describe different needs and should not be combined into a single count of people affected.

Deaths have also continued since the ceasefire. RTÉ reported that Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry counted more than 1,400 people killed in Israeli attacks during that period. OCHA’s report cited a ministry tally of 1,431 fatalities and 5,026 injuries since the ceasefire announcement on 10 October 2025, using its own reporting cutoff. Those are attributed ministry counts, not independently reconciled totals. Against that backdrop, Fletcher’s account of meals and schooling shows progress in aid delivery while his requests for access and shelter support remain unresolved.