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Powerful winter gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile tents sheltering Palestinians uprooted by conflict in Gaza, claiming the lives of no fewer than 4 people. This tragedy underscores the dangerous situation that persist after more than 24 months of intense bombardment and critical lack of aid.

Truce Offers Little Respite from Harsh Elements

Although a ceasefire has been active since last fall, aid groups state that Palestinians broadly lack the sufficient shelter required to survive recurring cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which took in the victims, said on this week that the dead were two women, a girl, and a man.

In a separate incident, the local health authority announced on the same day that a one-year-old boy succumbed of hypothermia during the night.

"International actors has allowed us to witness death in all its forms," stated a family member following the funeral. "It’s true the bombing may have paused for now, but we have witnessed all imaginable reasons of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Tent Collapse

As per the medical center, 3 people of a one family — elderly a man, his teenage granddaughter, and his son's wife — were killed when an eight-metre high wall collapsed onto their dwelling in a area near the sea of the city. No fewer than 5 additional people were hurt in the incident.

Their relatives on that day began clearing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and reconstructing 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 supplies across Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.

The majority of the population reside in improvised tents since their homes were turned into ruins over the course of the war. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of shelter materials are reaching Gaza under the ceasefire.

Casualty Figures Since the Truce

Local health authorities, part of the Hamas-run government, reports over four hundred and forty people have been killed by gunfire and their remains taken to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The ministry keeps detailed casualty records that are considered largely accurate by UN agencies and independent experts.

James Elder, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, said on Tuesday that at least one hundred minors below eighteen years old – sixty males and 40 females – had been killed since the ceasefire started because of armed actions, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, airstrikes, artillery fire and employment of live ammunition. Those figures, he said, reflected incidents where enough details had been gathered to warrant recording, but the overall count is expected to be higher. He noted that hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"Although 'explosions and gunfire have slowed' during the ceasefire, they have not ceased," the spokesperson informed reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva by video link from Gaza City. "Therefore what the world now terms quiet would be considered a catastrophe anywhere else," he concluded.

Third Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of over two million individuals has been struggling to keep the cold weather and storms at bay while enduring shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly needed during the colder season. It’s the third winter since the war between Israel and the group started on 7 October 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 more into Gaza.

The local health authority says over 71,400 people have been killed in Israel’s military campaign.