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Powerful winter gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by conflict in Gaza, claiming the lives of no fewer than four people. This tragedy underscores the perilous situation that continue after over 24 months of intense airstrikes and critical shortages of aid.

Ceasefire Offers No Relief from Harsh Weather

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

Officials at Shifa hospital, which received the victims, reported on this week that the deceased were two women, a young female, and a man.

Separately, the local health authority stated on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant died of extreme cold overnight.

"International actors has enabled us to experience loss of life in every possible way," stated a family member after the burial. "While it is correct the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have seen all imaginable reasons of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Crushed in Tent Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, three people of a one family — 72-year-old a man, his teenage granddaughter, and his son's wife — were killed when an eight-metre high wall fell onto their dwelling in a coastal area of the city. At least 5 others were hurt in the incident.

Their relatives on Tuesday started removing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and rebuilding the temporary homes for those who remained.

Humanitarian Distribution and Continuing Crisis

United Nations agencies and its aid organization allies were handing out shelter kits, plastic sheeting, 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 the population reside in makeshift shelters since their homes were reduced to ruins during the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of shelter materials are reaching Gaza under the ceasefire.

Fatality Numbers After the Ceasefire

The Gaza health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says more than 440 individuals have been fatally shot by gunfire and their remains taken to hospitals after the ceasefire began. The ministry keeps comprehensive casualty data that are considered generally reliable by UN agencies and outside analysts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, stated on Tuesday that no fewer than 100 children under the age of 18 – 60 boys and forty females – had been lost their lives since the ceasefire began due to military operations, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, tank shelling and use of bullets. Those figures, he explained, represented cases where enough information had been compiled to justify 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' under the truce, they have not stopped," Elder informed journalists at a press conference in Geneva by video link from Gaza City. "So what the international community now calls calm would be considered a catastrophe in any other place," he concluded.

Third Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of over two million individuals has been fighting to fend off the freezing temperatures and storms away while enduring shortages of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial transitional shelter, which is badly needed throughout the colder season. It’s the 3rd cold season after the war between the state and Hamas began on a date in late 2023, when fighters stormed into Israeli territory and killed around 1,200 people and abducted two hundred and fifty-one more into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry says more than 71,400 people have been fatally injured in the subsequent military campaign.