Gaza babies die from hypothermia (Winter 24-25)

As winter started, multiple infants in Gaza died due to the bitter cold wave sweeping through the displacement areas of Palestinians, where they were forcibly displaced to regions described by the Israeli occupation forces as “temporary humanitarian zones.”

• Most of these areas are open spaces stretching to the sea shores,

• Dozens of tents have been blown away or flooded by the strong winds and rain, leaving families struggling to repair the damage, patching torn sheets of plastic and piling up sand to hold back the water.

• The real-feel temperature at dawn and early morning hours drops to 3°C (actual temperature is 8°C).

• According to Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, the head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, staff in the neonatal ICU see at least five cases of hypothermia per day. Reduced breastfeeding and limited availability of infant formula has severely compounded the risk of hypothermia among babies, while the health workers are struggling to treat young patients due to shortages of electricity, diesel and other fuel.

• According to UNICEF, many displaced children in Gaza are wearing little more than the clothes on their backs – after many were forced to flee Israel’s bombardment in summer clothes, earlier this year.

• The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, recently said that Gaza babies “are freezing to death due to cold weather and a lack of shelter.” “Blankets, mattresses, and other winter supplies have been stuck in the region for months waiting for approval to get into Gaza,” he said in a recent message on X.

The infants who died due to the cold are:

1. Aisha Al-Qassas, 21 days old
2. Ali Issam Saqr, 23 days old
3. Ali Hossam Azzam, 4 days old
4. Sila Mahmoud Al-Faseeh, 14 days old
5. Jumua Al-Batran, one-month old
6. Ali Al-Batran, one-month old
7. Sanad Wisam Kamel Ayad, 4 months old
8. Ali Youssef Ahmed Kloub, 35-day-old
9. Dalia Al-Masri
10. Sham Yusuf Al-Shambari, 60 day-old
11. Sila Abdulqader, 1.5 month old 12-14. 3 unamed babies (week of 24 Feb)

December 22: Aisha Sufyan Al-Qassas, a 20-day-old, born in a displacement tent, she lacked protection from the harsh weather and, despite being taken to the hospital, received no proper treatment to be saved.

December 25: Sila Mahmoud Al-Faseeh “froze to death from the extreme cold” in Al-Mawasi, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, posted on X on Wednesday.

December 28: One-month-old Palestinian baby, Jumua al-Batran, tragically passed away from the freezing weather in central Gaza.

December 30: One-month-old Ali Al-Batran (twin brother of Jumua) died at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, quoting medical sources who attributed his death to plummeting temperatures.

December 31: Sanad Wisam Kamel Ayad died from hypothermia at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza

January 5: 35 day-old Yousef Ahmad Kaloob died from hypothermia in his family dispalcement tent in Mawasi Khan Younis

January 29: Infant Dalia Al-Masri died from hypothermia in Beit Hanoun. Her family returned to the rubble of their home and set up a tent there.

February 24-25: 6 children, among them infants, died across the Gaza Strip. This includes:

• three children, including infants, who died from cold injury after being to the Patient Friends Association Hospital in Gaza City.
• 60 day-old Sham Yusuf Al-Shambari who died in her family's displacement tent in Mawasi Khan Younis.

February 26: infant Sila Abdulqader, 1.5 month old, froze to death in her family's displacement tent in Shujaiya, east Gaza City.

Sources : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9