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Strong cold-season winds caused walls to collapse onto flimsy shelters sheltering Palestinians displaced by conflict in Gaza, claiming the lives of no fewer than 4 individuals. This tragedy highlights the dangerous situation that continue after over 24 months of intense bombardment and critical shortages of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Offers No Relief from Severe Weather

While a truce has been active from October, humanitarian organizations report that residents do not have the sufficient housing necessary to survive frequent cold-weather events.

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

Separately, the local health authority stated on the same day that a one-year-old boy succumbed of hypothermia during the night.

"The world has allowed us to witness loss of life in every possible way," stated Bassel Hamouda after the burial. "It’s true the bombing may have paused for now, but we have seen every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Shelter Collapse

As per the medical center, 3 members of a one family — 72-year-old a man, his 15-year-old granddaughter, and his son's wife — were fatally injured 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 others were injured in the event.

Family members on Tuesday started removing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and rebuilding the temporary homes for survivors.

Humanitarian Efforts and Ongoing Emergency

United Nations agencies and its humanitarian partners were handing out tents, tarps, warm covers and clothes as well as nutrition and sanitation items throughout Gaza, said the relevant UN coordination body.

The majority of the population reside in makeshift shelters because their homes were turned into rubble over the course of the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations contend not enough building supplies are entering Gaza under the ceasefire.

Fatality Figures Since the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, which is part of the administration, reports more than four hundred and forty individuals have been fatally shot by Israeli fire and their remains taken to hospitals after the truce began. The ministry keeps detailed fatality data that are seen as largely accurate by UN agencies and outside analysts.

James Elder, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, stated on that day that at least one hundred children below eighteen years old – 60 males and 40 girls – had been killed since the ceasefire began due to military operations, such as unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, tank shelling and employment of bullets. These numbers, he explained, represented incidents where sufficient information had been gathered to justify recording, but the overall count is believed to be higher. He added that many hundreds of children had been injured.

"Although 'bombings and gunfire have slowed' under the ceasefire, they have not stopped," the spokesperson told journalists at a press conference in the Swiss city by video from Gaza City. "Therefore what the international community now calls calm would be considered a crisis anywhere else," he said.

Third Winter of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million individuals has been fighting to fend off the freezing temperatures and bad weather at bay while facing shortages of assistance and a absence of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly needed during the winter months. It’s the third cold season since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October 2023, when militants attacked southern Israel and murdered around 1,200 individuals and took hostage 251 more into Gaza.

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