Fifth infant dies of hypothermia as Gaza's winter cold sets in

FRANCE 24

29 December 2024 at 11:46 am·2-min read

A 20-day-old baby died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip on Sunday – the fifth to die of cold in recent weeks according to local health officials. Thousands of displaced families in the Palestinian territory are struggling to stay warm as temperatures plummet.

Gaza health officials said that a 20-day-old baby died on Sunday from "severe cold" as the war-ravaged Palestinian territory grapples with winter weather.

Jumaa al-Batran was found with his head as “cold as ice” when his parents woke up Sunday, his father, Yehia, said. The baby's twin brother, Ali, was moved to the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Their father said the twins were born one month premature and spent just a day in the nursery at the hospital, which like other health centers in Gaza has been overwhelmed and is only partially functioning.

He said medics told their mother to keep the newborns warm, but it 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,” al-Batran said as he cradled his son’s pale body. He described drops of dew seeping through the tent cover overnight. “Look at his color because (of) the cold. Do you see how frozen he is?”

Children, some of them barefoot, stood outdoors and watched him mourn. The shrouded infant was laid at the feet of an imam, barely larger than his shoes. After prayers, the imam took off his ankle-length coat and wrapped it around the father.

“Feel warm, my brother,” he said.

And a strike near Nuseirat in central Gaza killed eight and wounded more than 15, according to officials at Al-Awda Hospital.

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