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Strong winter gusts caused walls to collapse onto flimsy tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, claiming the lives of at least four people. These deaths highlights the dangerous living conditions that persist after over two years of devastating airstrikes and severe shortages of aid.

Truce Offers No Respite from Severe Elements

While a ceasefire has been in effect since October, aid groups report that Palestinians do not have the adequate shelter required to withstand frequent cold-weather events.

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

Separately, the Gaza health ministry stated on Tuesday that a one-year-old boy succumbed of hypothermia during the night.

"International actors has allowed us to experience death in all its forms," said a family member following the funeral. "It’s true the shelling may have temporarily stopped, but we have seen every conceivable cause of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Family Buried in Shelter Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, three members of a single family — elderly Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old relative, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an eight-metre high wall fell onto their tent in a coastal area of the city. No fewer than five others were injured in the incident.

Their relatives on Tuesday began clearing the rubble that had buried their family and rebuilding the tent shelters for survivors.

Humanitarian Efforts and Ongoing Emergency

United Nations agencies and its aid organization allies were distributing tents, tarps, blankets and clothing as well as food and sanitation supplies throughout Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.

The majority of the population reside in improvised shelters since their homes were turned into ruins over the course of the war. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of building supplies are reaching Gaza during the ceasefire.

Fatality Figures After the Truce

The Gaza health ministry, part of the administration, reports more than 440 people have been fatally shot by gunfire and their bodies brought to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The authority maintains comprehensive fatality records that are considered generally reliable by international bodies and independent experts.

James Elder, spokesperson for the UN children's fund, stated on Tuesday that no fewer than one hundred children under the age of 18 – 60 boys and 40 girls – had been killed after the truce began due to military operations, such as drone strikes, air raids, artillery fire and employment of bullets. These numbers, he explained, represented cases where enough information had been compiled to justify documentation, but the overall count is expected to be greater. He noted that many hundreds of children had been injured.

"Although 'explosions and gunfire have slowed' during the truce, they have not ceased," Elder informed journalists at a press conference in the Swiss city by video link from Gaza City. "Therefore what the international community now terms calm would be viewed as a crisis in any other place," he said.

Third Cold Season of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than two million individuals has been fighting to keep the cold weather and storms at bay while facing lack of assistance and a absence of sturdier temporary housing, which is urgently needed throughout the winter months. This marks the 3rd winter after the conflict between Israel and the group started on a date in late 2023, when militants attacked Israeli territory and murdered approximately twelve hundred individuals and took hostage 251 others into Gaza.

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