A 20-day-old baby died in Gaza due to extreme cold, the fifth such death due to hypothermia within six days in the Palestinian enclave besieged by Israel.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said in a statement that Jumah Al-Batran died on Sunday, while his twin brother Ali is in intensive care at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Juma’s father, Yahya Al-Batran, said that his son found his head “cold as ice” when he woke up on Sunday.
He said that the twins were born one month premature and spent only one day in the nursery at Deir al-Balah Hospital, which, like other health centers in Gaza, is suffering from severe pressure and is only partially functioning due to the ongoing Israeli bombing.
He said doctors asked their mother to keep the newborns warm, but that was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures regularly drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at night.
“We are eight people, and we only have four blankets,” the patriarch said, hugging his son’s pale body. He described the dew drops seeping through the tent cover throughout the night.
“Look at its color because of the cold. Do you see how frozen it is?” Al-Batran, whose family took refuge in a torn tent in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, said.
“There is no electricity. The water is cold and there is no gas, heating or food. …My children are dying before my eyes, and no one cares. Jumaa has died, and I fear that his brother Ali will follow him.”
Children, some barefoot, stood outside and watched Yahya cry. The shrouded infant was placed at the imam’s feet, barely larger than his shoes. After praying, the imam took off his ankle-length coat and wrapped it around the father.
Al Jazeera’s Hend Khudari said that the area where the Batran family was sheltering was “very close to the sea and with strong winds.”
She said: “There are no tarps or tents, and Juma’s father was unable to provide the basic needs of his children.” “Palestinian infants and children die not only from air and artillery attacks, but also from malnutrition and hypothermia.”
Israeli forces have displaced nearly 2.3 million Gazans, forcing tens of thousands of them to huddle in inadequate tents along the rainy and windy coast of southern Gaza.
Three of the five Palestinian children who froze to death in less than a week were living in the “humanitarian zone” in Al-Mawasi.
Marwan Al-Hamas, head of field hospitals in Gaza, confirmed Juma’s death, saying that it brought to five the number of children “who died due to extreme cold” in recent days.
Ahmed Al-Farra, a doctor at the Tahrir Maternity Hospital in Khan Yunis, said that he sees between five and six cases of hypothermia among children every day.
“I visited the tents where these children live, and I saw their condition. It is miserable,” Al-Faraa told Al Jazeera.
Since the war began in October last year, Gazans have suffered severe shortages of electricity, drinking water, food and medical services, having been forced from their homes and displaced – many repeatedly.
The Israeli genocide in Gaza led to the deaths of at least 45,484 Palestinians and the injury of 108,090 others. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 people were captured.
