Winter Storms Claim 5 Lives in the Gaza Strip Amid Desperate Conditions in Makeshift Camps.

Strong cold-season winds caused walls to collapse upon fragile tents sheltering people displaced by conflict in Gaza, killing no fewer than 4 people. These deaths highlights the dangerous situation that continue after more than two years of devastating bombardment and critical lack of humanitarian assistance.

Ceasefire Provides Little Relief from Harsh Elements

Although a ceasefire has been active since last fall, aid groups state that residents do not have the sufficient housing necessary to survive recurring cold-weather events.

Officials at Shifa hospital, which took in the bodies, said on this week that the deceased were two women, a young female, and a man.

Separately, the local health authority announced on Tuesday that a one-year-old boy died of extreme cold overnight.

"The world has allowed us to witness death in every possible way," said a family member following 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."

Family Crushed in Tent Collapse

As per Shifa hospital, 3 members of a single household — elderly Mohamed Hamouda, his teenage relative, and his daughter-in-law — were killed when an eight-metre high wall collapsed on top of their tent in a coastal area of the city. At least five others were injured in the event.

Their relatives on that day began clearing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and reconstructing the temporary homes for those who remained.

Humanitarian Efforts and Continuing Emergency

The UN and its aid organization allies were handing out shelter kits, tarps, blankets and clothing as well as nutrition and hygiene supplies throughout Gaza, stated the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.

Most of Palestinians live in makeshift shelters because their houses were reduced to ruins over the course of the hostilities. Humanitarian organizations say an insufficient amount of building supplies are entering Gaza during the truce.

Casualty Figures Since the Truce

Local health authorities, part of the administration, says over 440 individuals have been killed by gunfire and their remains taken to hospitals after the ceasefire went into effect. The ministry keeps detailed fatality records that are seen as largely accurate by international bodies and outside analysts.

James Elder, representing the UN children’s agency Unicef, stated on that day that no fewer than one hundred children under the age of 18 – 60 boys and 40 girls – had been killed after the truce began because of military operations, including drone strikes, air raids, tank shelling and employment of live ammunition. Those figures, he explained, represented incidents where enough details had been compiled to warrant recording, but the overall count is believed to be greater. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.

"While 'explosions and shootings have decreased' during the truce, they have not stopped," the spokesperson told journalists at a press conference in the Swiss city by video link from Gaza City. "Therefore what the international community now terms quiet would be viewed as a catastrophe anywhere else," he concluded.

Third Winter of Hardship

Gaza’s residents of over 2 million people has been struggling to fend off the freezing temperatures and storms at bay while facing shortages of assistance and a lack of sturdier temporary housing, which is badly required during the winter months. It’s the third cold season since the conflict involving Israel and Hamas began on 7 October 2023, when militants attacked Israeli territory and murdered around 1,200 people and abducted two hundred and fifty-one others into Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry says over 71,400 people have been fatally injured in the subsequent retaliatory offensive.