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Strong winter winds caused walls to collapse upon flimsy shelters sheltering Palestinians displaced by conflict in Gaza, killing no fewer than 4 individuals. These deaths underscores the dangerous situation that persist after over two years of devastating bombardment and severe shortages of aid.

Ceasefire Provides No Relief from Severe Elements

Although a truce has been active since last fall, aid groups report that residents do not have the sufficient shelter necessary to survive recurring cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which took in the bodies, reported on this week that the dead include two women, a young female, and a male adult.

Separately, the local health authority stated on the same day that a 12-month-old infant died of extreme cold during the night.

"The world has enabled us to witness death in every possible way," said a family member after 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."

Relatives Crushed in Shelter Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, 3 people of a single household — elderly Mohamed Hamouda, his teenage granddaughter, and his daughter-in-law — were fatally injured when an 26-foot tall wall collapsed on top of their tent in a area near the sea of Gaza City. At least 5 others were injured in the incident.

Their relatives on that day began removing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and rebuilding the tent shelters for those who remained.

Aid Efforts and Ongoing Emergency

The UN and its humanitarian partners were distributing shelter kits, plastic sheeting, blankets and clothing as well as food and hygiene supplies throughout Gaza, said the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

Most of the population reside in makeshift tents since their houses were turned into ruins during the hostilities. Aid groups say not enough building supplies are entering Gaza under the ceasefire.

Fatality Figures After the Truce

Local health authorities, which is part of the Hamas-run government, says more than 440 individuals have been fatally shot by Israeli fire and their remains brought to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The ministry keeps detailed fatality records that are seen as largely accurate by international bodies and independent experts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, said on Tuesday that no fewer than one hundred children under the age of 18 – 60 boys and forty females – had been killed since the ceasefire began due to military operations, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, artillery fire and use of bullets. Those figures, he explained, represented incidents where enough information had been gathered to warrant recording, but the overall count is believed to be greater. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"While 'explosions and gunfire have decreased' during the truce, they have not ceased," Elder told reporters at a press conference in Geneva by video link from the Strip. "So what the international community now terms quiet would be considered a crisis anywhere else," he concluded.

Another Cold Season of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people has been struggling to fend off the cold weather and bad weather at bay while facing shortages of assistance and a absence of more substantial temporary housing, which is urgently needed throughout the winter months. This marks the 3rd winter after the war involving Israel and Hamas started on a date in late 2023, when militants stormed into Israeli territory and murdered around twelve hundred people and took hostage 251 others into Gaza.

The local health authority reports more than seventy-one thousand four hundred Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.