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Strong cold-season gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile shelters housing Palestinians uprooted by war in Gaza, claiming the lives of at least four individuals. These deaths underscores the dangerous living conditions that continue after over two years of devastating bombardment and critical lack of aid.

Ceasefire Offers Little Respite from Severe Weather

While a truce has been in effect from October, humanitarian organizations state that Palestinians broadly lack the sufficient housing necessary to withstand recurring cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Shifa hospital, which took in the bodies, reported on Tuesday that the dead include two women, a young female, and a male adult.

In a separate incident, the local health authority stated on Tuesday that a 12-month-old infant succumbed of extreme cold during the night.

"The world has enabled us to witness loss of life in all its forms," stated Bassel Hamouda after the funeral. "It’s true the bombing may have temporarily stopped, but we have seen every conceivable cause of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Buried in Shelter Collapse

As per the medical center, three people of a single household — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his teenage relative, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an eight-metre high wall collapsed onto their dwelling in a area near the sea of the city. At least 5 additional people were hurt in the event.

Family members on Tuesday began removing the debris that had entombed their loved ones and reconstructing the tent shelters for those who remained.

Humanitarian Efforts and Continuing Emergency

United Nations agencies and its humanitarian partners were distributing tents, plastic sheeting, warm covers and clothing as well as food and sanitation supplies across Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.

The majority of the population live in improvised shelters because their homes were reduced to rubble over the course of the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations say not enough building supplies are reaching Gaza under the ceasefire.

Fatality Figures After the Ceasefire

The Gaza health ministry, part of the administration, reports more than 440 people have been killed by Israeli fire and their bodies taken to hospitals after the truce went into effect. The ministry maintains comprehensive casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and outside analysts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, representing the UN children's fund, stated on Tuesday that at least one hundred minors below eighteen years old – sixty males and forty girls – had been lost their lives after the ceasefire began due to armed actions, including unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, tank shelling and use of bullets. Those figures, he said, reflected cases where sufficient information had been gathered to warrant recording, but the total toll is expected to be greater. He noted that hundreds of minors had been injured.

"Although 'explosions and shootings have decreased' during the truce, they have not ceased," Elder informed journalists at a press conference in the Swiss city by video link from the Strip. "Therefore what the world now terms quiet would be considered a crisis anywhere else," he concluded.

Third Cold Season of Struggle

Gaza’s population of over 2 million people has been struggling to keep the cold weather and storms away while facing lack of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is urgently required throughout the winter months. This marks the 3rd cold season after the conflict involving Israel and Hamas started on a date in late 2023, when fighters stormed into Israeli territory and killed approximately twelve hundred individuals and took hostage 251 more into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry says more than seventy-one thousand four hundred Palestinians have been fatally injured in Israel’s military campaign.