Strong cold-season gusts caused walls to collapse upon fragile tents sheltering people uprooted by conflict in Gaza, killing at least 4 people. These deaths underscores the dangerous living conditions that persist after over two years of intense airstrikes and severe lack of humanitarian assistance.
Truce Offers Little Respite from Severe Elements
While a truce has been active from October, humanitarian organizations report that residents do not have the adequate housing necessary to withstand frequent cold-weather events.
Officials at Shifa hospital, which took in the bodies, said on this week that the deceased include two women, a girl, and a male adult.
Separately, the local health authority announced on the same day that a 12-month-old infant succumbed of extreme cold overnight.
"The world has allowed us to experience death in all its forms," said Bassel Hamouda after the burial. "While it is correct the shelling may have paused for now, but we have witnessed every conceivable cause of death in the world in the Gaza Strip."
Relatives Crushed in Shelter Collapse
As per Shifa hospital, three members of a single household — 72-year-old Mohamed Hamouda, his 15-year-old relative, and his daughter-in-law — were killed when an 26-foot tall wall fell onto their dwelling in a coastal area of the city. No fewer than five additional people were injured in the incident.
Family members on that day began removing the rubble that had buried their loved ones and reconstructing the tent shelters for those who remained.
Humanitarian Distribution 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 items throughout Gaza, stated the relevant UN coordination body.
Most of Palestinians reside in makeshift tents since their homes were reduced to ruins during the war. Humanitarian organizations contend an insufficient amount of shelter materials are reaching Gaza during the truce.
Fatality Numbers After the Truce
The Gaza health ministry, part of the administration, says more than four hundred and forty individuals have been killed by Israeli fire and their bodies taken to hospitals after the ceasefire began. The authority maintains comprehensive fatality data that are seen as largely accurate by international bodies and independent experts.
James Elder, representing the UN children's fund, said on Tuesday that at least 100 minors below eighteen years old – 60 males and forty girls – had been lost their lives since the ceasefire started because of military operations, including drone strikes, airstrikes, artillery fire and use of live ammunition. Those figures, he said, reflected incidents where enough details had been compiled to warrant documentation, but the overall count is believed to be higher. He noted that many hundreds of minors had been wounded.
"While 'bombings and gunfire have slowed' under the truce, they have not stopped," the spokesperson told reporters at a press conference in Geneva by video from Gaza City. "So what the world now terms calm would be viewed as a crisis in any other place," he said.
Third Cold Season of Hardship
Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people has been fighting to keep the cold weather and storms at bay while facing lack of humanitarian aid and a absence of sturdier temporary housing, which is urgently required throughout the colder season. It’s the 3rd cold season since the conflict involving Israel and the group started on a date in late 2023, when militants attacked Israeli territory and murdered around twelve hundred individuals and abducted 251 others into Gaza.
Gaza’s health ministry says over 71,400 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.
