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Strong winter gusts brought walls down upon fragile shelters sheltering Palestinians displaced by conflict in Gaza, claiming the lives of no fewer than four individuals. This tragedy highlights the perilous living conditions that persist after more than two years of devastating bombardment and critical lack of humanitarian assistance.

Truce Offers No Relief from Severe Weather

While a truce has been in effect since October, aid groups state that residents do not have the adequate shelter required to withstand recurring cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which received the victims, reported on this week that the deceased were two women, a girl, and a male adult.

In a separate incident, the local health authority stated on the same day that a 12-month-old infant succumbed of hypothermia during the night.

"International actors has allowed us to witness loss of life in every possible way," stated Bassel Hamouda after the funeral. "While it is correct the bombing may have paused for now, but we have witnessed every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Tent Collapse

As per the medical center, three members of a single household — elderly Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old relative, and his daughter-in-law — were killed when an 26-foot high wall fell onto their tent in a area near the sea of the city. At least five additional people were hurt in the incident.

Their relatives on Tuesday started clearing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and reconstructing the tent shelters for survivors.

Humanitarian Distribution and Ongoing Emergency

United Nations agencies and its aid organization allies were handing out tents, tarps, warm covers and clothes as well as nutrition and sanitation supplies across Gaza, stated the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

Most of the population reside in improvised tents because their houses were turned into rubble during the war. Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are reaching Gaza during the truce.

Fatality Figures Since the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, part of the administration, reports more than 440 individuals have been killed by gunfire and their bodies taken to hospitals after the ceasefire began. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and outside analysts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, said on Tuesday that at least 100 minors under the age of 18 – sixty boys and forty females – had been killed after the ceasefire started due to military operations, such as unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, tank shelling and use of live ammunition. These numbers, he explained, represented cases where enough information had been gathered to warrant documentation, but the total toll is believed to be higher. He added that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"While 'explosions and shootings have decreased' during the ceasefire, they have not ceased," the spokesperson informed journalists at a UN briefing in Geneva by video link from Gaza City. "So what the world now calls calm would be viewed as a crisis anywhere else," he concluded.

Another Winter of Struggle

Gaza’s population of over two million people has been struggling to keep the freezing temperatures and bad weather at bay while facing shortages of assistance and a lack of sturdier temporary housing, which is urgently required during the winter months. It’s the third winter since the war between the state and the group began on 7 October 2023, when militants stormed into Israeli territory and murdered around 1,200 people and abducted two hundred and fifty-one more into Gaza.

The local health authority reports over 71,400 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.