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Powerful cold-season gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile tents housing people uprooted by war in Gaza, killing at least 4 individuals. These deaths underscores the dangerous living conditions that persist after over 24 months of devastating bombardment and critical lack of aid.

Ceasefire Provides No Relief from Harsh Weather

Although a truce has been active since October, aid groups report that residents do not have the sufficient shelter required to withstand recurring cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which took in the victims, reported on this week that the deceased were a pair of adult females, a girl, and a male adult.

In a separate incident, the local health authority announced on Tuesday that a one-year-old boy died of hypothermia overnight.

"The world has allowed us to witness loss of life in all its forms," said a family member following the funeral. "It’s true the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have seen every conceivable cause of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Crushed in Shelter Collapse

According to the medical center, 3 people of a one household — elderly a man, his 15-year-old relative, and his son's wife — were killed when an 26-foot tall wall fell onto their dwelling in a area near the sea of the city. At least five additional people were hurt in the event.

Their relatives on that day started clearing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and reconstructing the tent shelters for survivors.

Humanitarian Efforts and Ongoing Crisis

United Nations agencies and its humanitarian partners were distributing tents, tarps, blankets and clothing as well as nutrition and sanitation supplies throughout Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.

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

Fatality Figures After the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, says more than four hundred and forty people have been killed by gunfire and their remains taken to hospitals after the truce began. The authority maintains comprehensive fatality data that are considered generally reliable by UN agencies and outside analysts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, representing the UN children's fund, said on that day that no fewer than one hundred children below eighteen years old – 60 males and 40 girls – had been lost their lives after the truce started due to military operations, including drone strikes, air raids, artillery fire and use of live ammunition. Those figures, he said, represented incidents where sufficient information had been gathered to warrant recording, but the total toll is believed to be higher. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"Although 'bombings and gunfire have decreased' during the ceasefire, they have not stopped," Elder told reporters at a press conference in Geneva by video link from the Strip. "So what the international community now calls quiet would be viewed as a crisis anywhere else," he said.

Another Cold Season of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of more than two million individuals has been fighting to keep the cold weather and bad weather at bay while facing shortages of assistance and a lack of sturdier temporary housing, which is badly required during the winter months. This marks the 3rd winter since the war involving the state 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 reports more than seventy-one thousand four hundred Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign.