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Strong winter winds brought walls down onto fragile tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing at least four individuals. This tragedy highlights the perilous situation that persist after over two years of intense bombardment and critical lack of aid.

Truce Offers Little Relief from Harsh Weather

Although a ceasefire has been active from October, humanitarian organizations report that Palestinians do not have the adequate shelter necessary to withstand recurring cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which received the bodies, reported on this week that the dead include a pair of adult females, a young female, and a man.

In a separate incident, the local health authority announced on the same day that a 12-month-old infant died of extreme cold overnight.

"International actors has enabled us to witness loss of life in all its forms," stated a family member following the burial. "While it is correct the shelling may have temporarily stopped, but we have witnessed all imaginable reasons of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Buried in Shelter Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, 3 people of a one family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his teenage granddaughter, and his daughter-in-law — were fatally injured when an eight-metre high wall collapsed on top of their tent in a area near the sea of the city. At least 5 others were hurt in the event.

Their relatives on that day began removing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and reconstructing the temporary homes for survivors.

Aid Efforts and Continuing Crisis

United Nations agencies and its humanitarian partners were handing out tents, plastic sheeting, warm covers and clothes as well as food and hygiene supplies across Gaza, said the relevant UN coordination body.

Most of Palestinians reside in makeshift tents since their houses were reduced to rubble over the course of the war. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of building supplies are reaching Gaza under the truce.

Fatality Numbers After the Ceasefire

Local health authorities, which is part of the Hamas-run government, reports over 440 individuals have been fatally shot by gunfire and their remains taken to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The ministry maintains comprehensive casualty records that are considered largely accurate by international bodies and outside analysts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, said on Tuesday that at least 100 children below eighteen years old – sixty boys and forty girls – had been lost their lives since the ceasefire started because of armed actions, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, artillery fire and use of bullets. Those figures, he said, reflected incidents where enough details had been compiled to warrant documentation, but the total toll is expected to be higher. He added that many hundreds of children had been wounded.

"While 'bombings and gunfire have slowed' during the truce, they have not ceased," Elder told journalists at a UN briefing in Geneva by video link from Gaza City. "So what the international community now calls quiet would be considered a catastrophe anywhere else," he concluded.

Another Cold Season of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of over two million people has been fighting to keep the freezing temperatures and bad weather away while enduring lack of assistance and a lack of sturdier temporary housing, which is badly needed during the colder season. It’s the third cold season after the war between Israel and the group began on a date in late 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and murdered around twelve hundred individuals and took hostage 251 others into Gaza.

The local health authority reports more than 71,400 people have been fatally injured in Israel’s military campaign.