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Powerful winter winds brought walls down onto fragile tents sheltering Palestinians uprooted by war in Gaza, claiming the lives of no fewer than 4 individuals. This tragedy underscores the dangerous living conditions that persist after over 24 months of intense airstrikes and critical lack of aid.

Truce Provides No Relief from Harsh Weather

Although a ceasefire has been in effect from last fall, aid groups state that Palestinians broadly lack the sufficient shelter necessary to withstand frequent winter storms.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which received the bodies, said on Tuesday that the deceased were a pair of adult females, a girl, and a man.

In a separate incident, the Gaza health ministry announced on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant succumbed of hypothermia overnight.

"International actors has enabled us to witness death in every possible way," said a family member following the funeral. "While it is correct the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have seen every conceivable cause of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Buried in Shelter Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, 3 members of a one family — elderly Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old relative, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an eight-metre tall wall fell on top of their dwelling in a coastal area of Gaza City. At least 5 others were injured in the event.

Their relatives on Tuesday began clearing the rubble that had buried their family and rebuilding the tent shelters for survivors.

Humanitarian Efforts and Ongoing Emergency

The UN and its aid organization allies were distributing shelter kits, plastic sheeting, warm covers and clothes as well as food and hygiene supplies across Gaza, said the relevant UN coordination body.

The majority of the population reside in improvised shelters since their houses were turned into ruins over the course of the hostilities. Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are entering Gaza under the ceasefire.

Fatality Numbers Since the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, reports over 440 individuals have been killed by gunfire and their bodies brought to hospitals since the ceasefire began. The ministry keeps detailed casualty data that are seen as largely accurate by UN agencies and outside analysts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, stated on that day that at least 100 minors under the age of 18 – 60 males and 40 females – had been killed after the truce began due to military operations, such as unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, artillery fire and employment of bullets. These numbers, he explained, reflected incidents where sufficient details had been compiled to warrant recording, but the total toll is believed to be greater. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been injured.

"While 'bombings and shootings have slowed' during the ceasefire, they have not ceased," Elder informed journalists at a press conference in the Swiss city by video link from Gaza City. "Therefore what the world now terms calm would be considered a crisis anywhere else," he concluded.

Third Cold Season of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of more than two million people has been struggling to keep the cold weather and storms at bay while facing shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly needed during the colder season. This marks the 3rd cold season since the war involving the state and Hamas began on 7 October 2023, when fighters stormed into Israeli territory and murdered approximately twelve hundred individuals and abducted 251 more into Gaza.

The local health authority says more than seventy-one thousand four hundred Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.