Forcibly displaced Palestinians struggle with harsh winter conditions in Gaza whilst battling the fury of Israeli genocide. The chief paediatric doctor at a southern Gaza hospital confirmed Gaza hospital says four babies have died of “severe temperature drop” this week as the war-ravaged Palestinian territory grapples with winter cold.
Gaza hospital says four babies have died
The fourth baby died within 72 hours of the first in Gaza, with medical sources saying the infant died due to exposure to the cold.
Dr. Ahmed al-Farra of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis city said a three-week-old girl “was brought to the emergency room with a severe temperature drop, which led to her death”.
Farra, the hospital’s paediatric services head, mentioned two other cases his team handled on Tuesday.
“A three-day-old baby and another baby, less than a month old, both died after a severe temperature drop,” he said.
“This is due to the fact that they live in tents,” added the doctor, referring to Palestinians displaced by more than 14 months of indiscriminate Israeli genocide in Gaza who are barely surviving. They have sought shelter in makeshift camps, many in the coastal Khan Younis area.
Israel’s attacks on the territory have displaced over 90 percent of Gaza’s population, many of them multiple times.
“The tents do not protect from the cold, and it gets very cold at night, with no way to keep warm,” said Farra as the last surviving Gaza hospital says four babies have died.
The risk to newborns is particularly acute, he added, as many mothers suffer malnutrition, affecting the quality of the milk their babies feed on.
A crippling siege on Gaza
Israel has imposed a crippling siege on Gaza, depriving people of food and other basic necessities.
The deceased three-week-old girl, Sila al-Faseeh, lived in the Al-Mawasi tent city on the Mediterranean coast near Khan Yunis.
Her father, Mahmoud al-Faseeh, told Sawt Asharq News that in her final hours, “the little girl woke up two or three times during the night to breastfeed”.
In the morning, the parents saw “she had bitten her tongue and was bleeding”, said the father.
“We took her to the doctor, who told us it was due to the cold, and there have been several cases with similar symptoms.”
Faseeh said it was “extremely cold, and the tent is not suitable for living. The children are always sick.”
According to Israel’s weather service, temperatures in Gaza in recent days were as low as eight degrees Celsius at night and Israel is blocking aid agencies from delivering winter relief packages.