As Trump, in Davos, hails Gaza prosperity, Palestinians dig for trash to burn to keep warm

Desperate Palestinians at a garbage dump in a Gaza neighborhood dug with their bare hands for plastic items to burn to keep warm in the cold and damp winter in the enclave, battered by two years of the Israel-Hamas war.

The scene in the Mawasi area of the city of Khan Younis contrasted starkly with the vision of the territory projected by world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, where they inaugurated US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace that will oversee Gaza.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump claimed that “record levels” of humanitarian aid had entered Gaza since the October start of a US-brokered ceasefire deal.

His son-in law Jared Kushner and Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff triumphantly touted the devastated real estate potential of Gaza, which has been devastated by the Israeli offensive that followed Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

In Gaza, months into the truce, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still languish in displacement camps, sheltering in tents and war-ravaged buildings, unable to protect themselves from the temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) at night.

Despite the ceasefire, there are still recurring deadly strikes in Gaza. Israeli tank shelling on Thursday killed four Palestinians east of Gaza City, according to Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of the city’s Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken. The IDF did not immediately comment, but said strikes are in response to ceasefire violations.

Some in Gaza expressed skepticism about Trump’s Board of Peace and whether it would change their grim lives.

“This committee includes Israelis. I don’t understand, as citizens, how can we understand this situation?” Rami Ghalban, who was displaced from Khan Younis, said Thursday. “The Israelis who inflicted suffering upon us.”

But grappling with what’s ahead seems futile for others.

“We are in a position where there are no alternatives,” said Fathi Abu Sultan. “Our situation is miserable.”

While aid flow into Gaza has significantly increased since the ceasefire, residents say fuel and firewood are in short supply. Prices are exorbitant and searching for firewood is dangerous. On Wednesday, 13-year-old Moatasem al-Sharafi was reportedly killed by the IDF while collecting firewood on the Israeli-controlled side of the ceasefire line in southern Gaza.

The IDF did not comment on the reports. It has regularly said it fired on people who crossed the ceasefire line and posed an “immediate threat” to troops.

For Sanaa Salah, who lives in a tent with her husband and six kids, starting a fire is a critical daily chore so they can cook and keep warm. Her family has barely enough clothes to keep warm.

She said the family cannot afford to buy firewood or gas, and that they are aware of the dangers of burning plastic but have no other choice.

“Life is very hard,” she said as her family members threw plastic and paper into a fire to keep it burning. “We cannot even have a cup of tea.”

“This is our life,” she said. “We do not sleep at night from the cold.”

فيديو فلسطين أون لاين | في مشهدٍ يختصر قسوة الحصار، طفلٌ فلسطيني نازح في مواصي رفح ينبش النفايات الصلبة بحثًا عن الورق والبلاستيك ليشعل بهما نارًا تطهو طعام عائلته، بعدما بات غاز الطهي شحيحًا لا يدخل إلا بالقطّارة بإذن قوات الاحتلال، فتتحوّل براءة الطفولة إلى صراع يومي من أجل… pic.twitter.com/kUbPfRLI4a

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) January 21, 2026

Firewood is just too expensive, said Aziz Akel. His family has no income and they can’t pay the NIS 7 or 8 (about $2.5) it would cost.

“My house is gone and my kids were wounded,” he said.

His daughter, Lina Akel, said he leaves the family’s tent early each morning to look for plastic in the garbage to burn — “the basics of life.”