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Powerful cold-season gusts caused walls to collapse upon flimsy tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing no fewer than 4 individuals. This tragedy underscores the perilous living conditions that continue after over 24 months of devastating airstrikes and critical shortages of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Provides No Respite from Severe Weather

While a ceasefire has been active from last fall, humanitarian organizations state that Palestinians do not have the sufficient shelter necessary to survive frequent cold-weather events.

Officials at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which took in the victims, reported on Tuesday that the deceased were a pair of adult females, a young female, and a man.

Separately, the Gaza health ministry announced on the same day that a one-year-old boy succumbed of hypothermia during the night.

"International actors has enabled us to witness death in all its forms," said a family member following the funeral. "While it is correct the bombing may have paused for now, but we have seen every conceivable cause of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Shelter Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, 3 members of a single household — 72-year-old a man, his teenage relative, and his son's wife — were killed when an 26-foot high wall fell on top of their tent in a coastal area of Gaza City. No fewer than 5 additional people were hurt in the incident.

Their relatives on that day began clearing the debris that had buried their loved ones and reconstructing the temporary homes for survivors.

Aid Distribution and Ongoing Crisis

The UN and its humanitarian partners were distributing tents, plastic sheeting, warm covers and clothes as well as food and sanitation supplies across Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.

The majority of Palestinians reside in makeshift tents since their houses were reduced to ruins over the course of the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations say not enough shelter materials are entering Gaza under the truce.

Fatality Figures After the Ceasefire

Local health authorities, part of the Hamas-run government, says over 440 people have been fatally shot by Israeli fire and their remains taken to hospitals after the truce began. The authority maintains detailed fatality records that are seen as generally reliable by international bodies and outside analysts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, spokesperson for the UN children’s agency Unicef, stated on Tuesday that no fewer than 100 minors under the age of 18 – 60 boys and forty girls – had been lost their lives after the ceasefire started due to armed actions, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, artillery fire and use of live ammunition. These numbers, he said, reflected incidents where enough information had been gathered to justify documentation, but the overall count is expected to be greater. He added that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"Although 'explosions and gunfire have slowed' during the truce, they have not stopped," Elder informed reporters at a press conference in the Swiss city by video from Gaza City. "Therefore what the international community now calls calm would be considered a crisis anywhere else," he concluded.

Another Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s population of over two million individuals has been struggling to keep the cold weather and bad weather at bay while facing lack of assistance and a lack of sturdier temporary housing, which is urgently needed throughout the winter months. It’s the 3rd winter after the war between Israel and the group started on 7 October 2023, when fighters stormed into Israeli territory and killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 more into Gaza.

The local health authority reports more than 71,400 people have been killed in the subsequent retaliatory offensive.