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Strong winter gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile shelters sheltering people displaced by conflict in Gaza, killing at least four people. This tragedy highlights the perilous situation that continue after more than 24 months of intense airstrikes and severe lack of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Provides Little Relief from Severe Elements

Although a ceasefire has been active from last fall, aid groups report that residents do not have the sufficient shelter required to survive frequent winter storms.

Officials at Shifa hospital, which took in the bodies, said on Tuesday that the dead include a pair of adult females, a girl, and a man.

Separately, the Gaza health ministry stated on the same day that a one-year-old boy died of extreme cold overnight.

"International actors has enabled us to witness loss of life in all its forms," stated a family member after the funeral. "It’s true the shelling may have paused for now, but we have seen every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Crushed in Shelter Collapse

According to Shifa hospital, three people of a single household — elderly a man, his 15-year-old granddaughter, and his daughter-in-law — were fatally injured when an eight-metre tall wall fell onto their dwelling in a coastal area of the city. No fewer than five others were injured in the incident.

Their relatives on Tuesday began clearing the debris that had entombed their family and rebuilding the temporary homes for survivors.

Humanitarian Efforts and Continuing Emergency

The UN and its humanitarian partners were handing out shelter kits, plastic sheeting, blankets and clothes as well as nutrition and hygiene supplies across Gaza, said the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

The majority of Palestinians live in makeshift tents since their homes were reduced to ruins during the hostilities. Aid groups contend not enough building supplies are entering Gaza during the truce.

Casualty Figures Since the Ceasefire

The Gaza health ministry, part of the administration, says more than four hundred and forty individuals have been fatally shot by Israeli fire and their remains brought to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The authority keeps detailed fatality data that are seen as largely accurate by international bodies and independent experts.

A spokesperson for UNICEF, spokesperson for the UN children’s agency Unicef, said on Tuesday that no fewer than one hundred children under the age of 18 – sixty boys and 40 girls – had been killed after the truce started due to armed actions, such as unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, air raids, artillery fire and use of bullets. Those figures, he said, reflected cases where enough information had been gathered to justify recording, but the overall count is believed to be greater. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"Although 'explosions and shootings have decreased' under the truce, they have not stopped," Elder told reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva by video link from Gaza City. "So what the world now terms quiet would be considered a catastrophe anywhere else," he said.

Another Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s population of more than two million people has been fighting to fend off the cold weather and bad weather away while facing lack of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly required during the winter months. This marks the 3rd winter since the war between the state and the group started on a date in late 2023, when militants attacked southern Israel and killed approximately 1,200 people and took hostage 251 more into Gaza.

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