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Powerful cold-season gusts caused walls to collapse upon flimsy shelters sheltering Palestinians displaced by conflict in Gaza, claiming the lives of at least four people. This tragedy underscores the perilous situation that persist after over two years of devastating airstrikes and severe lack of aid.

Truce Provides No Respite from Harsh Weather

While a truce has been active from last fall, humanitarian organizations report that residents do not have the sufficient housing necessary to survive recurring winter storms.

Medical staff at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which took in the bodies, reported on this week that the dead include two women, a young female, and a man.

Separately, the Gaza health ministry announced on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant died of extreme cold overnight.

"International actors has allowed us to witness loss of life in every possible way," said Bassel Hamouda following the burial. "It’s true the bombing may have paused for now, but we have seen all imaginable reasons of death in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Tent Collapse

As per the medical center, three people of a one family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old relative, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an 26-foot tall wall collapsed 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 started removing the rubble that had buried their family and rebuilding the temporary homes for those who remained.

Humanitarian Efforts and Ongoing Emergency

United Nations agencies and its aid organization allies were distributing tents, plastic sheeting, blankets and clothing as well as nutrition and hygiene supplies throughout Gaza, said the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

The majority of the population reside in makeshift shelters since their houses were turned into rubble over the course of the hostilities. Aid groups say not enough building supplies are entering Gaza during the ceasefire.

Casualty Numbers After the Ceasefire

Local health authorities, which is part of the administration, reports more than 440 individuals have been killed by gunfire and their bodies taken to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The ministry maintains comprehensive casualty records that are considered generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children’s agency Unicef, stated on Tuesday that at least 100 minors below eighteen years old – 60 males and forty females – had been killed since the ceasefire started because of armed actions, such as unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, airstrikes, artillery fire and employment of live ammunition. Those figures, he explained, represented cases where sufficient details had been gathered to justify documentation, but the total toll is expected to be greater. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"Although 'bombings and shootings have slowed' during the ceasefire, they have not stopped," Elder informed journalists at a UN briefing in the Swiss city by video link from the Strip. "So what the international community now terms calm would be viewed as a catastrophe in any other place," he said.

Another 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 shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of sturdier temporary housing, which is badly required during the winter months. This marks the 3rd cold season since the war between Israel and Hamas started on 7 October 2023, when militants stormed into Israeli territory and killed approximately twelve hundred people and took hostage 251 others into Gaza.

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