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Powerful cold-season gusts brought walls down upon fragile shelters housing people displaced by conflict in Gaza, claiming the lives of at least 4 people. This tragedy highlights the dangerous living conditions that persist after more than 24 months of devastating airstrikes and severe shortages of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Provides Little Respite from Harsh Elements

Although a truce has been in effect since last fall, aid groups state that Palestinians do not have the sufficient housing required to withstand frequent cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which received the bodies, said on this week that the deceased include two women, a girl, and a male adult.

Separately, the local health authority stated on the same day that a one-year-old boy died of extreme cold overnight.

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

Family Buried in Tent Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, three people of a one family — elderly Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old relative, and his daughter-in-law — were fatally injured when an eight-metre tall wall fell onto their tent in a coastal area of the city. At least five others were hurt in the event.

Their relatives on that day started clearing the rubble that had entombed their loved ones and rebuilding the tent shelters for survivors.

Humanitarian Distribution and Continuing Emergency

United Nations agencies and its aid organization allies were handing out tents, tarps, warm covers and clothing as well as food and hygiene supplies throughout Gaza, said the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

The majority of Palestinians reside in makeshift tents since their homes were turned into ruins during the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations say not enough shelter materials are reaching Gaza under the truce.

Fatality Numbers Since the Ceasefire

The Gaza health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, reports over four hundred and forty people have been killed by gunfire and their remains brought to hospitals since the ceasefire began. The authority keeps comprehensive casualty data that are considered largely accurate by international bodies and independent experts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, said on that day that at least 100 minors below eighteen years old – sixty boys and 40 girls – had been killed since the ceasefire started because of military operations, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, tank shelling and use of live ammunition. Those figures, he explained, reflected cases where sufficient details had been gathered to warrant documentation, but the total toll is expected to be greater. He added that many hundreds of minors had been injured.

"While 'bombings and gunfire have decreased' during the ceasefire, they have not stopped," the spokesperson informed reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva by video from the Strip. "Therefore what the world now terms quiet would be viewed as a catastrophe in any other place," he said.

Third Winter of Struggle

Gaza’s residents of more than two million individuals has been struggling to keep the freezing temperatures and bad weather away while facing lack of assistance and a absence of sturdier transitional shelter, which is urgently needed throughout the winter months. It’s the third cold season since the conflict involving the state and Hamas began on a date in late 2023, when fighters stormed into Israeli territory and murdered approximately 1,200 people and took hostage two hundred and fifty-one more into Gaza.

The local health authority reports over 71,400 people have been fatally injured in the subsequent military campaign.