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Strong winter gusts caused walls to collapse onto flimsy tents housing people uprooted by conflict in Gaza, killing no fewer than four individuals. This tragedy underscores the perilous situation that persist after over two years of intense bombardment and severe shortages of aid.

Truce Offers Little Respite from Harsh Weather

While a ceasefire has been in effect since last fall, aid groups report that Palestinians do not have the sufficient housing required to survive recurring winter storms.

Officials at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which received the bodies, reported on Tuesday that the deceased include two women, a girl, and a male adult.

Separately, the local health authority announced on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant died of hypothermia during the night.

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

Relatives Crushed in Shelter Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, 3 people of a single family — elderly a man, his teenage relative, and his son's wife — were killed when an 26-foot high wall collapsed on top of their dwelling in a coastal area of the city. At least five others were injured in the incident.

Family members on that day started clearing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and reconstructing the temporary homes for survivors.

Humanitarian Distribution and Continuing Crisis

The UN and its aid organization allies were distributing shelter kits, tarps, blankets and clothes as well as nutrition and hygiene supplies across Gaza, stated the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

The majority of Palestinians live in improvised shelters since their homes were reduced to ruins during the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of building supplies are entering Gaza during the ceasefire.

Fatality Figures After the Ceasefire

The Gaza health ministry, which is part of the administration, says over 440 individuals have been killed by Israeli fire and their remains taken to hospitals since the ceasefire began. The ministry maintains comprehensive fatality records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

James Elder, representing the UN children's fund, said on that day that at least one hundred children below eighteen years old – 60 boys and 40 females – had been killed since the ceasefire started because of military operations, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, artillery fire and use of bullets. These numbers, he said, reflected cases where enough information had been gathered to justify documentation, but the total toll is believed to be higher. He added that hundreds of children had been wounded.

"Although 'bombings and shootings have slowed' during the ceasefire, they have not ceased," the spokesperson informed journalists at a UN briefing in Geneva by video link from the Strip. "Therefore what the world now calls calm would be viewed as a catastrophe anywhere else," he concluded.

Third Cold Season of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million individuals has been struggling to keep the freezing temperatures and storms away while facing shortages of assistance and a lack of more substantial transitional shelter, which is urgently required during the winter months. It’s the third winter since the war between Israel and the group started on a date in late 2023, when militants attacked southern Israel and killed around 1,200 individuals and took hostage 251 others into Gaza.

The local health authority says more than 71,400 Palestinians have been fatally injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.