At least six infants have died from hypothermia in Gaza over the past two weeks, Palestinian medics reported on Tuesday. The babies, all under two months old, perished in the harsh winter conditions as hundreds of thousands of displaced people remain in tents and damaged buildings during a fragile ceasefire.
Gaza’s winter is typically cold and wet, with temperatures dipping below 10°C (50°F) at night. In recent days, cold weather has worsened, and storms from the Mediterranean Sea have compounded the hardships.
Yusuf al-Shinbari, a father from Deir al-Balah, woke up early on Tuesday to find his 2-month-old daughter, Sham, cold and unresponsive. “Yesterday, I was playing with her,” he said, describing her as a beautiful child. She died from the cold, according to Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatric department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The hospital has also treated other infants for frostbite.
Saeed Salah from Gaza City’s Patient’s Friends Hospital reported the death of five infants under a month old in the last two weeks, with one passing away on Monday. Another infant has been placed on a ventilator. Zaher al-Wahedi, from the Gaza Health Ministry, confirmed that 15 children have died from hypothermia this winter.
While the ceasefire has allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid, residents still face severe shortages of blankets, warm clothing, and fuel for heating. Gaza has had no central electricity since the early days of the war, and many families are forced to sleep on cold, damp surfaces.
The ceasefire, which paused 16 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas, is set to end on Saturday. There is uncertainty about whether it will be extended, and if fighting resumes, the flow of aid is expected to diminish significantly.
Rebuilding Gaza may take years, with the World Bank estimating the reconstruction cost at over $50 billion. In the meantime, rubble continues to fill the streets, and families who returned to northern Gaza after the ceasefire are living among the ruins.
The ongoing conflict, which began after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, has caused widespread devastation. More than 48,000 Palestinians have died, many of them women and children, though Israel’s claim of over 17,000 militants killed remains unverified.
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