The father of three-week-old victim Sila Mahmoud al-Faseeh says his family slept on cold sand in a tent exposed to strong winds.
Three Palestinian babies have died of hypothermia in the al-Mawasi refugee camp in southern Gaza in recent days, as temperatures plummet and Israel’s blockade on food, water and winter supplies essential continues.
Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children’s department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, confirmed on Wednesday the death of three-week-old Sila Mahmoud al-Faseeh, adding that two other babies, three days old and one months, had been brought to the hospital in the 48 hours preceding his death from hypothermia.
“She was healthy and she was born naturally, but due to the intense cold in the tents, there was a significant drop in temperature which prevented her body system from functioning and led to her death,” said al-Farra, referring to the death of Sila. died in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune.
Mahmoud al-Faseeh, father of baby Sila, said the family was living in “poor conditions” in their tent in al-Mawasi, an area of dunes and farmland on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast near the southern city from Khan Younis.
Al-Mawasi was designated a “safe zone” but was attacked several times during the last 14 months of the Israeli offensive.
“We sleep on the sand, we don’t have enough blankets and we feel cold inside our tent,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “Only God knows our conditions. Our situation is very difficult.
The family’s tent was unprotected from the wind and the ground was cold, with temperatures Tuesday evening falling to 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit).
The baby had woken up crying three times during the night. In the morning, her parents found her unconscious, her body stiff, “like wood,” al-Faseeh said in another interview with the Associated Press news agency.
He rushed the baby to Nasser Hospital, but it was already too late to resuscitate her.
Dr Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said baby Sila “froze to death due to the extreme cold”, noting that the site had been declared a “temporary humanitarian zone safe for people displaced” by the Israeli authorities. military.
Israel’s bombing and ground invasion of Gaza killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of whom were women and children.
The offensive has caused massive destruction and the displacement of around 90 percent of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands of people are gathered in tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in. Aid groups are struggling to deliver food and supplies and say there is a shortage of blankets, warm clothing and firewood.
“This is a glaring example of the consequences of this unjust war and its impact on the people of the Gaza Strip,” al-Farra said.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
