UN ‘deeply concerned’ over babies freezing to death in Gaza

“Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is deeply concerned by reports that a one-month-old baby has died in the Gaza Strip due to hypothermia, according to the Ministry of Health. This is the eighth such child death due to the cold in less than three weeks,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

Stating that such deaths are “preventable” if aid reached to families in Gaza, Dujarric added Israel’s ongoing hostilities in Gaza have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, with daily reports of civilian casualties and massive displacement.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, also said on X that “more children are in danger” than those infants who have already frozen to death in the Gaza Strip.

Per our reporting, eight babies have died this winter season of hypothermia, amid a severe shortage of housing and supplies like winter clothing and blankets, in scarce supply in the Gaza Strip because of Israel’s restrictions on letting aid in.

“Every child deserves a healthy and safe start in life, but the children of Gaza are paying the price of war with their own lives”, Tedros wrote.

Cold weather, rainfall and storms are worsening the already tragic living conditions for Palestinian civilians in Gaza City, municipal authorities warned.

“Displaced civilians are suffering very tragic conditions due to rains and storms and there are no enough capabilities to help them,” Gaza Municipality said in a statement.

(The current cold wave) poses a danger to the worn-out tents of the displaced,” it warned.

The authorities added municipal teams are facing major difficulties discharging the rainwater and sewage due to the massive damage caused by Israeli attacks on the sewage discharge network.

The Gaza Municipality appealed to international aid groups to intervene to provide Gaza’s civilians with shelter amid the cold weather.

The Palestinian enclave has been hit by a cold wave and torrential rains, bringing more misery to the territory’s 2.3 million population.

The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 45,500 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.