December 22nd, 2025
Dear Prime Minister Carney,
cc: The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs
cc: The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development
Re: Winter Crisis in Gaza Demands Canada’s Immediate Response
As winter rains and cold temperatures intensify, Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering and dying from cold exposure. Children are sleeping in flooded tents. Elderly people are shivering without heat, dry shelter, or adequate clothing. This is not a looming crisis—it is happening right now.
Since early December 2025, over 30 Palestinians have died due to hypothermia, flooding, and collapsing shelters. Thirteen Palestinians—including children and newborns—have frozen to death in displacement camps. Most of Gaza’s two million residents remain displaced, with 850 000 people at high risk of flooding across 761 camps. Hundreds of thousands of children face imminent threats of malnutrition, hypothermia, and disease as food, clean water, and safe shelter remain critically scarce.
Israel is currently blocking the entry of winterized tents, mobile homes, and the heavy machinery urgently needed to clear floodwaters and sewage in Gaza. These units are already waiting at the border, yet remain withheld despite the fact that their delivery is a stipulated obligation under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
As a Coalition of Manitoba Organisations for Palestine, we urge the Government of Canada to:
Demand and enforce unrestricted humanitarian access, including winterized tents, heaters, blankets, waterproof shelter, and medical supplies.
Increase emergency humanitarian funding specifically for winter relief and shelter reconstruction.
Apply diplomatic and economic pressure to ensure aid is not blocked or delayed.
Support a permanent ceasefire so humanitarian assistance can safely reach those in need.
Protect Palestinian civilians under international law, ensuring that recognition of their suffering is matched by tangible protection and aid.
Symbolic gestures, statements, or recognition alone cannot keep people warm, dry, or alive. Canada must move beyond words and take immediate, concrete action to protect Palestinian civilians and uphold international humanitarian law. Recognizing Palestinian statehood without action to safeguard Palestinian lives is hollow. People cannot survive on statements while freezing in the rain.
Canada has the capacity and responsibility to act decisively. We implore you to apply immediate diplomatic pressure to ensure that mobile homes, caravans, and trailers are allowed into Gaza without delay. We implore you to ensure that our government delivers real protection, real aid, and real accountability. Lives depend on it.
Sincerely,
United Jewish People’s Order
Independent Jewish Voices Winnipeg
Labour for Palestine Winnipeg
Manitoba Government and General Employees for Palestine
Faculty for Palestine Manitoba
Manitoba Healthcare Workers for Palestine
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Winnipeg South Centre for Justice
Liberation MB
Mennonite Church Manitoba Palestine Israel Network
Canadian Muslim Women Institute
Winnipeg Central Mosque
University of Manitoba Muslim Students’ Association
Manitoba Women for Palestine
Canada-Palestine Support Network (Winnipeg)
Craftivists United
The Pali Project
Students for Justice in Palestine University of Manitoba
Students for Justice in Palestine University of Winnipeg
Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba
Canadian Muslims for Palestine