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Strong winter gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile shelters sheltering Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing no fewer than four people. This tragedy highlights the dangerous situation that persist after over 24 months of devastating airstrikes and critical shortages of humanitarian assistance.

Truce Provides No Relief from Severe Weather

While a truce has been in effect from last fall, aid groups report that residents broadly lack the adequate shelter required to withstand recurring cold-weather events.

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

In a separate incident, the Gaza health ministry stated on the same day that a one-year-old boy died of hypothermia during the night.

"The world has enabled us to witness death in all its forms," stated Bassel Hamouda following the burial. "While it is correct the shelling may have paused for now, but we have seen every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Buried in Tent Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, 3 people of a one household — 72-year-old a man, his 15-year-old granddaughter, and his son's wife — were killed when an 26-foot high wall fell on top of their dwelling in a area near the sea of Gaza City. No fewer than 5 additional people were injured in the event.

Family members on Tuesday started removing the rubble that had entombed their loved ones and rebuilding the tent shelters for those who remained.

Humanitarian Efforts and Continuing Emergency

The UN and its humanitarian partners were handing out shelter kits, tarps, blankets and clothing as well as food and sanitation supplies across Gaza, stated the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

The majority of the population live in makeshift shelters because their houses were turned into rubble during the war. Humanitarian organizations contend not enough building supplies are entering Gaza under the truce.

Fatality Numbers Since the Truce

Local health authorities, part of the administration, reports more than four hundred and forty individuals have been killed by Israeli fire and their bodies taken to hospitals since the truce went into effect. The ministry maintains detailed fatality records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and outside analysts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, said on that day that at least one hundred children under the age of 18 – sixty males and forty females – had been killed after the truce began due to armed actions, such as drone strikes, airstrikes, artillery fire and employment of bullets. Those figures, he said, reflected incidents where enough details had been gathered to warrant documentation, but the total toll is expected to be higher. He added that many hundreds of minors had been injured.

"Although 'bombings and gunfire have decreased' during the truce, they have not ceased," Elder told journalists at a UN briefing in the Swiss city by video link from Gaza City. "Therefore what the international community now terms quiet would be viewed as a crisis anywhere else," he concluded.

Third Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s population of over 2 million people has been struggling to fend off the freezing temperatures and storms away while facing shortages of humanitarian aid and a absence of more substantial temporary housing, which is urgently needed during the colder season. It’s the 3rd winter since the war involving Israel and Hamas began on a date in late 2023, when fighters attacked Israeli territory and murdered approximately 1,200 people and took hostage two hundred and fifty-one more into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry reports over 71,400 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent military campaign.