Three years on: Gaza families need more than survival

After three years of war and a year after the ceasefire was announced, families in Gaza are still waiting for the safety and stability it was meant to bring. Airstrikes and other attacks continue to kill and injure civilians. Hundreds of thousands of people lack safe housing. Restrictions on critical supplies and equipment prevent families from repairing their homes, restoring basic services, and rebuilding their lives.

More humanitarian aid, food, and basic supplies have entered Gaza over the past year, but getting through each day remains a struggle for many families. Around 1.4 million people—two-thirds of the population—do not have enough to eat.

“Keeping people alive cannot be the limit of ambition,” said Nicole Hark, Prosper Global Country Director for Palestine. “We must keep meeting Gazan’s urgent needs, but no one in Gaza should have to settle for survival.”

“We cannot measure progress only by how many trucks or goods enter Gaza. The real measure of the ceasefire is what it allows people to do. Can a family repair their home? Can parents earn an income and put nutritious food on the table? Can a farmer return to their land? Can a business reopen? Can children begin to imagine a future beyond displacement and war?”

Despite years of repeated displacement and loss, communities are still trying to work, farm, learn, and support their families. We must build on that determination and provide the tools and opportunities to shape what comes next.

People need urgent assistance and the means to build more stability. Food, clean water, healthcare, safe shelter, and cash are essential. But families also need functioning water systems, access to land, tools and agricultural supplies, working markets, and opportunities to earn an income.

Another winter of hardship

Families in Gaza are approaching a fourth winter without safety and security. Thousands are still living in tents, makeshift shelters, or damaged buildings that offer little protection from rain, cold, and flooding.

In September, a residential building damaged by the war collapsed in Gaza City. Twenty-one people, including children, were killed. The tragedy highlighted another growing danger for communities. With nowhere safer to go, families are living in buildings weakened by years of bombardment, with unexploded bombs putting lives at risk. An estimated 2,000 buildings are at risk of collapse, raising fears of further tragedy as winter approaches.

“After three years of war, recovery cannot be something promised for the future,” said Nicole. “It needs to begin now.”

How is Prosper Global responding?

Since October 2023, Prosper Global and local partners have reached more than 400,000 people across Gaza, responding to urgent needs while helping families find ways to regain stability.

Our response has evolved as people's needs have changed. Alongside food, clean water, hygiene supplies, shelter, and psychosocial support, we are expanding work that helps families restore livelihoods, produce food, and create opportunities for what comes next.

Working with local partners, Prosper Global has distributed more than 3,100 shelter kits, reaching nearly 18,000 people with materials including tarps, mattresses, mats, and winter blankets.

Our teams have delivered 460,000 liters of safe drinking water to more than 8,300 people across Gaza. We are working to expand emergency water access and delivering more sustainable water points. Since October 2023, we have also reached over 74,000 people with essential hygiene supplies, and more than 80,000 have received emergency food aid.

As families look for ways to reduce their dependence on aid, we’re partnering with communities on a home gardening project. In central Gaza, families received seeds, supplies, and guidance to grow seasonal vegetables and leafy greens at home. The program will expand to reach more communities.

Prosper Global is investing in Gaza's young people and digital economy. As destruction to 75% of Gaza’s telecommunications networks disrupts connectivity, Gaza Sky Geeks has opened new co-working spaces across the region. We continue our Gaza Sky Geeks program–Palestine's first and only tech hub, startup accelerator, and coding academy–by providing power and connectivity.

Young people are building technical and professional skills and connecting with potential employers, including jobs that reach beyond Gaza’s physical borders. These opportunities are an important part of what recovery looks like even in the middle of the conflict: not only restoring what was lost, but also supporting people in making a living and shaping their own futures.