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Powerful winter gusts caused walls to collapse onto flimsy tents sheltering people displaced by war in Gaza, claiming the lives of at least 4 individuals. This tragedy highlights the dangerous living conditions that continue after more than two years of intense bombardment and critical lack of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Offers Little Respite from Harsh Weather

While a truce has been active from last fall, aid groups report that Palestinians do not have the adequate shelter necessary to survive frequent winter storms.

Officials at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which received the bodies, reported on Tuesday that the dead include a pair of adult females, a young female, and a male adult.

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

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

Relatives Buried in Tent Collapse

According to the medical center, three members of a single family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his teenage granddaughter, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an 26-foot tall wall collapsed on top of their tent in a area near the sea of Gaza City. At least 5 others were hurt in the event.

Family members on that day started removing the debris that had entombed their family and reconstructing the tent shelters for those who remained.

Humanitarian Efforts and Ongoing Emergency

The UN and its humanitarian partners were distributing shelter kits, plastic sheeting, warm covers and clothing as well as nutrition and hygiene items throughout Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.

Most of the population reside in makeshift shelters since their houses were reduced to rubble during the hostilities. Aid groups contend an insufficient amount of shelter materials are entering Gaza under the truce.

Fatality Numbers Since the Truce

Local health authorities, which is part of the Hamas-run government, reports more than four hundred and forty people have been fatally shot by Israeli fire and their remains taken to hospitals since the truce began. The ministry maintains detailed fatality data that are considered generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

James Elder, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, stated on that day that no fewer than one hundred children below eighteen years old – 60 boys and forty girls – had been lost their lives since the ceasefire began because of military operations, such as drone strikes, airstrikes, tank shelling and use of live ammunition. These numbers, he said, represented cases where sufficient details had been compiled to justify documentation, but the total toll is believed to be higher. He noted that many hundreds of children had been injured.

"While 'explosions and gunfire have decreased' during the ceasefire, they have not stopped," the spokesperson informed journalists at a press conference in the Swiss city by video from the Strip. "So what the international community now calls calm would be viewed as a crisis in any other place," he said.

Another Winter of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than two million people has been fighting to fend off the cold weather and storms away while facing lack of humanitarian aid and a lack of sturdier transitional shelter, which is badly required throughout the winter months. This marks the 3rd cold season since the war involving Israel and Hamas began on a date in late 2023, when fighters stormed into Israeli territory and murdered around 1,200 people and abducted 251 more into Gaza.

The local health authority says more than 71,400 people have been fatally injured in the subsequent retaliatory offensive.