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Strong cold-season gusts caused walls to collapse upon flimsy shelters sheltering Palestinians uprooted by war in Gaza, killing at least 4 individuals. These deaths underscores the perilous situation that continue after more than 24 months of intense bombardment and severe lack of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Offers Little Relief from Severe Weather

While a truce has been active from October, aid groups state that Palestinians do not have the sufficient housing required to withstand frequent cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which took in the bodies, said on Tuesday that the dead include a pair of adult females, a girl, and a man.

Separately, the Gaza health ministry stated on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant succumbed of hypothermia during the night.

"The world has allowed us to experience loss of life in every possible way," said a family member following the funeral. "It’s true the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have witnessed all imaginable reasons of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Tent Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, three members of a one family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his teenage granddaughter, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an 26-foot tall wall fell onto their dwelling in a coastal area of Gaza City. No fewer than 5 others were injured in the event.

Family members on that day started clearing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and rebuilding the temporary homes for survivors.

Humanitarian Distribution and Continuing Crisis

The UN and its aid organization allies were distributing shelter kits, tarps, warm covers and clothes as well as nutrition and hygiene items across Gaza, stated the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

The majority of the population reside in makeshift shelters since their homes were reduced to ruins over the course of the hostilities. Aid groups contend not enough building supplies are entering Gaza under the ceasefire.

Fatality Numbers Since the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, part of the administration, says over four hundred and forty people have been killed by gunfire and their bodies taken to hospitals after the truce began. The ministry keeps comprehensive casualty records that are considered largely accurate by international bodies and independent experts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, stated on Tuesday that no fewer than one hundred minors under the age of 18 – 60 boys and 40 girls – had been killed after the truce began because of armed actions, including drone strikes, airstrikes, artillery fire and employment of live ammunition. These numbers, he said, represented cases where enough details had been compiled to justify recording, but the total toll is believed to be higher. He added that many hundreds of minors had been injured.

"While 'bombings and shootings have slowed' under the truce, they have not stopped," the spokesperson told reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva by video link from Gaza City. "Therefore what the international community now calls quiet would be considered a crisis in any other place," he said.

Another Cold Season of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million individuals has been fighting to keep the freezing temperatures and storms away while facing lack of assistance and a lack of more substantial transitional shelter, which is urgently required throughout the winter months. It’s the third cold season after the war involving the state and Hamas started on 7 October 2023, when militants attacked southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people and abducted two hundred and fifty-one more into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry reports more than 71,400 people have been fatally injured in Israel’s military campaign.