Cold weather in Gaza has claimed the life of a baby, the sixth to die in a week, according to medical sources, as Israel continues its relentless attacks on the Strip’s hospitals.
One-month-old Ali al-Batran died on Monday at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported, citing medical sources who attributed his died when temperatures dropped.
The day before, his twin brother, Jumaa al-Batran, froze to death in the displaced family’s flimsy tent in Deir el-Balah, also in the center of the enclave, his father said, describing how Jumaa was discovered with his head. as “cold as ice”.
The babies were born a month premature.
Israeli forces have displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, forcing tens of thousands into makeshift tents in open-air camps along the rainy coast and swept by the winds.
Three of the six Palestinian babies who died of hypothermia last week lived in the coastal “safe zone” of al-Mawasi, near the southern town of Khan Younis.
The Gaza government’s media office said Monday that “bitter cold and frost” that hit “dilapidated tents” in the Gaza Strip camps killed seven people, including an adult medical worker.
Gaza’s health ministry reported Monday that 27 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hind Khoudari said: “You cannot imagine the current situation. We are all freezing and shivering from the very cold weather. … Especially those who are in al-Mawasi, very close to the beach, suffer from the cold.”
“We are talking about Palestinians who have been displaced for more than 14 months. They still have the same tent. There (are) no tent tarps. It is also very expensive to buy nylon, equipment or tools to cover your tent and even winter clothing (and) blankets.
Hospitals under fire
At the same time, Israel attacked two hospitals – al-Wafaa and al-Ahli – in Gaza City. The bombing of al-Wafaa on Sunday killed seven people and seriously injured others, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
A witness at the scene of the al-Wafaa bombing described seeing bodies “torn to pieces.” The Israeli military said its attack targeted a Hamas “command and control center,” but it provided no evidence to support this claim.
Israeli forces also arrested hundreds of Palestinians on Friday, including dozens of medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. Among them was its director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safia.
The army has not revealed the whereabouts of Abou Safia. However, CNN reported on Monday that he was being held at the Sde Teiman military base, which is also a detention center in the Negev desert in southern Israel. He cited two recently released Palestinian prisoners who had seen him and heard his name read.
On Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, called for the immediate release of Abu Safia.
Tedros, who last week escaped an Israeli strike on Yemen’s main airport that he said was hit just meters from him, said in a post on X that Gaza’s hospitals had become “fields of battle” and that the health system was “seriously threatened”.
“We repeat: stop the attacks on hospitals. Gazans need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health assistance. Ceasefire! he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli media published a video of the moments before Abu Safia’s arrest by Israeli forces. The footage shows his efforts to bring hundreds of patients and medical staff to safety after the Israeli army issued a 15-minute warning to leave the hospital.
From Deir el-Balah, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said the army released the footage in an attempt to portray their operations as “incredibly targeted, precise and humane.”
“But later we heard from eyewitnesses… just the opposite in terms of the humiliation (and) mistreatment they suffered at the hands of Israeli soldiers (and) the brutal beatings they witnessed during military operations. » he added.
Since the start of the Israeli war in October 2023, Gaza residents have suffered severe shortages of electricity, drinking water, food and medical services, with the vast majority forced to leave their homes and displaced – many repeatedly.
The Israeli genocide in Gaza killed at least 45,541 Palestinians and injured 108,338. More than 1,100 people were killed in Israel during attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and dozens were captured.