🔗 Share this article

Powerful winter winds brought walls down upon fragile tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, claiming the lives of no fewer than 4 individuals. This tragedy underscores the dangerous situation that persist after over 24 months of intense bombardment and critical shortages of aid.

Truce Offers Little Relief from Harsh Elements

Although a ceasefire has been in effect since October, aid groups state that residents broadly lack the sufficient shelter necessary to survive frequent cold-weather events.

Medical staff at Gaza City's largest medical facility, which took in the bodies, said on this week that the dead include two women, a girl, and a male adult.

Separately, the local health authority stated on the same day that a one-year-old boy succumbed of extreme cold during the night.

"International actors has allowed us to experience death in all its forms," said Bassel Hamouda following the burial. "It’s true the shelling may have paused for now, but we have witnessed all imaginable reasons of fatality in the world in the Gaza Strip."

Relatives Buried in Tent Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, 3 members of a single family — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old granddaughter, and his son's wife — were fatally injured when an eight-metre high wall fell onto their tent in a coastal area of Gaza City. At least 5 others were injured in the event.

Their relatives on that day began removing the debris that had entombed their family and reconstructing the temporary homes for survivors.

Aid Distribution and Continuing Emergency

The UN and its humanitarian partners were distributing shelter kits, plastic sheeting, blankets and clothing as well as nutrition and hygiene items across Gaza, stated the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

Most of Palestinians reside in makeshift tents since their homes were turned into ruins during the war. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of building supplies are entering Gaza during the truce.

Fatality Figures After the Ceasefire

The Gaza health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says more than four hundred and forty individuals have been killed by gunfire and their remains brought to hospitals after the ceasefire began. The authority keeps comprehensive fatality records that are considered generally reliable by UN agencies and outside analysts.

James Elder, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, said on Tuesday that at least 100 children under the age of 18 – sixty boys and forty girls – had been killed since the truce started because of armed actions, such as drone strikes, air raids, artillery fire and employment of live ammunition. These numbers, he explained, reflected cases where enough information had been gathered to warrant documentation, but the total toll is believed to be higher. He added that many hundreds of children had been wounded.

"While 'bombings and gunfire have decreased' during the truce, they have not stopped," Elder informed reporters at a UN briefing in the Swiss city by video link from Gaza City. "So what the international community now terms quiet would be viewed as a catastrophe in any other place," he concluded.

Another Winter of Struggle

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people has been struggling to fend off the cold weather and bad weather at bay while enduring lack of humanitarian aid and a lack of more substantial temporary housing, which is badly needed throughout the colder season. It’s the third cold season since the war involving the state and Hamas began on a date in late 2023, when fighters attacked Israeli territory and killed around 1,200 individuals and took hostage two hundred and fifty-one more into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry says more than 71,400 Palestinians have been fatally injured in the subsequent retaliatory offensive.