Medics say 6 babies have died from the cold in Gaza as displaced people shelter in tents and rubble
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least six infants have died from hypothermia in the last two weeks in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in tent camps and war-damaged buildings during a fragile ceasefire, Palestinian medics said Tuesday.
Temperatures have plunged in recent days. The coastal territory experiences cold, wet winters, with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) at night and storms blowing in from the Mediterranean Sea.
Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatric department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, told The Associated Press that it received the body of a 2-month-old girl on Tuesday.
“I unbuttoned her clothes and patted her, but there was no breath or heartbeat,” said the girl’s father, Yusuf al-Shinbat, who found her in the early morning. “Yesterday, I was playing with her, bathing her and scenting her. I was happy with her. She was a (beautiful) child like the moon.”
Al-Farah said another two infants were treated for frostbite at Nasser Hospital. One was discharged later, while the other was in intensive care.
The body of one "was completely blue and his temperature was very low,” the doctor said.
Dr. Saeed Salah, of the Patient's Friends Hospital in Gaza City, said five infants aged one month or younger have died from the cold over the last two weeks, including a 1-month-old who died on Monday. He said another child has been placed on a ventilator.
Salah said the infants all sheltered in camps and schools-turned-shelters in northern Gaza. "There is no fuel, no electricity, no gas, no means of heating, and they and the family were exposed to extreme cold," he said.
Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry's records department, said it has recorded 15 deaths from hypothermia this winter, all of them children.
The ceasefire that paused 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas militants has allowed a surge in humanitarian aid, mainly food, but residents say there are still shortages of blankets and warm clothing, and little wood available for fires.
There's been no central electricity in Gaza since the first few days of the war, and fuel for generators is scarce. Many families huddle on damp sand or bare concrete.
“It’s incredibly cold,” Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for the United Nations children's agency, said earlier this month. “I have no clue how people can sleep at night in their makeshift tents.”
Israel's military offensive, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack, was among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. It pounded large areas of Gaza into rubble. The hundreds of thousands of people who have been able to return to northern Gaza under the ceasefire have settled wherever they can amid the ruins.
The ceasefire's first phase will end on Saturday and may not be extended. If fighting resumes, the current flow of humanitarian aid is expected to drop dramatically.
Even if the truce endures, it's unclear when anything in Gaza will be rebuilt. The World Bank has estimated the cost of reconstruction at over $50 billion, and it could take years just to clear the rubble.
Israel blames the destruction on Hamas because the militants positioned tunnels, rocket launchers and other military infrastructure in residential areas.
Hamas has accused Israel of delaying the entry of mobile homes and tents in violation of the ceasefire. Israel denies the allegations and accuses Hamas of violating the agreement. Israel held up the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners last weekend to protest Hamas' practice of parading hostages before crowds in public spectacles during their release.
Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250 hostages. Over 60 are still held in Gaza, around half believed to be dead.
Israel's air and ground war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many of those killed were militants. Israel says it killed over 17,000 fighters but has not provided evidence.
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Magdy reported from Cairo.
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