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Strong cold-season winds caused walls to collapse upon fragile shelters sheltering Palestinians uprooted by war in Gaza, claiming the lives of at least 4 people. This tragedy highlights the dangerous situation that persist after more than 24 months of intense bombardment and severe lack of aid.

Truce Provides Little Relief from Severe Weather

Although a truce has been in effect since October, aid groups state that Palestinians broadly lack the sufficient housing required to withstand frequent winter storms.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which took in the victims, reported on Tuesday that the dead were a pair of adult females, a girl, and a man.

Separately, the local health authority announced on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant succumbed of extreme cold overnight.

"International actors has enabled us to witness death in every possible way," stated a family member after the burial. "It’s true the bombing may have paused for now, but we have witnessed every conceivable cause of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Crushed in Tent Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, three members of a one family — elderly a man, his teenage granddaughter, and his son's wife — were killed when an 26-foot tall wall collapsed on top of their tent in a area near the sea of the city. No fewer than five others were hurt in the incident.

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

Aid Distribution and Continuing Emergency

The UN and its aid organization allies 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 live in improvised tents because their houses were reduced to rubble during the war. Humanitarian organizations contend not enough building supplies are reaching Gaza under the ceasefire.

Casualty Figures Since the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, reports over four hundred and forty individuals have been fatally shot by Israeli fire and their remains brought to hospitals after the truce went into effect. The ministry maintains comprehensive casualty data that are considered largely accurate by international bodies and outside analysts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, said on that day that at least 100 minors below eighteen years old – sixty boys and 40 females – had been killed after the truce began due to armed actions, such as drone strikes, air raids, tank shelling and use of bullets. Those figures, he explained, reflected cases where enough details had been compiled to justify recording, but the total toll is expected to be higher. He noted that hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"Although 'explosions and shootings have decreased' during the truce, they have not ceased," the spokesperson told reporters at a press conference in the Swiss city by video from Gaza City. "So what the international community now terms calm would be viewed as a crisis anywhere else," he said.

Another Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of more than 2 million people has been fighting to fend off the cold weather and storms at bay while enduring lack of assistance and a absence of more substantial transitional shelter, which is urgently needed during the winter months. It’s the third cold season after the war involving Israel and Hamas started on 7 October 2023, when fighters attacked Israeli territory and killed around 1,200 people and took hostage 251 more into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry says more than 71,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign.