Live updates: Israel-Hamas war intensifies, Gaza humanitarian crisis worsens

Since Israel launched its war on Hamas on October 7, the Israel Defense Forces said it had struck more than 22,000 targets in Gaza. As a result, almost 1.9 million people — more than 85% of the enclave’s total population — have been displaced, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Many live in makeshift shelters as temperatures drop and rain conditions are expected for the next few months. Others struggle to find drinking water and adequate food. And yet others are also battling spread of disease.

CNN spoke to some civilians and aid workers about their conditions:

Salwa Tibi: The 53-year-old aid worker recalls how she covered several miles on foot in southern Gaza, in a desperate search for blankets and sheets that might help keep her four children and other young relatives warm at night. She is staying in a rented house with at least 20 relatives including eight children and babies – the youngest of whom is three months old.

Rana Al-Najjar: As winds, heavy rains and cooler temperatures descend on Gaza from November to February, the 13-year-old girl — who was walking around barefoot — told CNN, “We are nine people living in this tent. Our tent is flooded with water, my siblings are freezing, and we don’t know what to do. We want to go back to our homes and not drown.”

Shadya Arafat: The 51-year-old civilian in Deir Al-Balah told CNN she used to enjoy the rain. “Now we say ‘God have mercy on us,’” said the grandmother. “We have no beds, no blankets, the children are sleeping on the floor only lying on a sheet.” She is staying in a tent with 14 other people, most of whom are children. “I go around begging for a blanket (and) spend the night carrying a pot to collect the water so it doesn’t soak the children,” she added.

Hazem Saeed Al-Naizi: The director of an orphange in Gaza City decided to flee south to Rafah with 40 people under his care – most of whom are children and infants living with disabilities. He recalled being too fatigued to hold a bag — crammed with baby milk, biscuits, dates, diapers, water and clothing — at the same time as carrying one of the orphans, 8-year-old Ayas. He said he threw away the bag.

Shadi Bleha: The 20-year-old student, displaced from northern Gaza to Rafah, is sheltering in the courtyard of a school. “We are staying in a tent (made) from separate pieces of nylon,” he said, noting he is with at least 23 relatives, including five children ages 5 to 12. On some nights, he sleeps outside next to a fire because there is not enough room for them all, he said.

Islam Saeed Muhammad Barakat: The 48-year-old displaced civilian did not have time to gather the belongings his family needs for winter when they fled their home in Gaza City. He said he and many of his children got sick with several viruses that have spread recently, including flu and other “unknown but painful and contagious viruses.” Barakat called on the international community to protect Palestinian lives, in the hope that peace will return to Gaza.

CNN’s Abeer Salman, Jomana Karadsheh, Vasco Cotovio, Ibrahim Dahman, Mostafa Salem, Kareem Khadder, Eyad Kourdi, Derek Van Dam and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting.

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