 "How did six babies die of hypothermia in Gaza?")
As Israel drops bombs on Gaza, babies are dying from the cold.
According to reports, six babies have died of hypothermia in the past week.
Three of the six babies have passed away in al-Mawasi.
This comes amid hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in cramped makeshift tents amid plummeting temperatures.
But what happened? What do we know?
Let’s take a closer look:
What happened?
As per Al Jazeera, Ali al-Batran, who was one month old, on Monday died at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.
Medical sources blamed the plummeting temperatures for Ali’s death.
This came a day after Ali’s twin brother Jumaa al-Batran also died in the family’s tent in Deir el-Balah.
Jumaa was discovered with his head as “cold as ice,” their father said.
Both babies were born one month prematurely.
Three of the six babies who died over the past week lived in al-Mawasi.
This is near the southern town of Khan Younis.
As per CNN, al-Mawasi has been repeatedly attacked by Israel despite being previously designated as a ‘humanitarian zone.’
Thousands of families who have fled Israel’s bombardment have been living there in tents made of cloth and nylon.
Last week, Sela Mahmoud Al-Fasih “froze to death from the extreme cold” in al-Mawasi, Dr Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, was quoted as saying.
“(Sela) died from the cold,” her mother, Nariman Al-Fasih, told CNN. “I was warming her and holding her. But… (we) didn’t have extra clothes for me to warm this girl.”
The three-week-old’s face had turned blue.
Mahmoud al-Faseeh, wrapped her in a blanket to try and keep her warm in their tent in the Muwasi area outside the town of Khan Younis, but it wasn’t enough.
He said the tent was not sealed from the wind and the ground was cold, as temperatures on Tuesday night dropped to 9 degrees Celsius.
“It was very cold overnight and as adults we couldn’t even take it. We couldn’t stay warm,” he said. Sila woke up crying three times overnight and in the morning they found her unresponsive, her body stiff.
“She was like wood,” said al-Faseeh. They rushed her to a field hospital where doctors tried to revive her, but her lungs had already deteriorated.
Images of Sila showed the little girl with purple lips, her pale skin blotchy.
Dr Ahmed Al-Farra, the head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis blamed low temperatures and a lack of access to warmth for her death.
NBC quoted doctors as saying that Sela died from hypothermia.
They said her heart stopped beating after the temperature plummeted during the night.
Al-Farra said four infants had died including a three-day-old and a one-month-old.
He said staff in the hospital’s neonatal ICU witness at least five cases of hypothermia every day.
He blamed the lack of breastfeeding and limited availability of infant formula as raising the risk of hypothermia for babies.
“This is one of the disastrous results of this criminal war,” Al-Farra told CNN.
The situation in al-Mawasi remains grave.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudari reported, “You can’t imagine the situation right now. We are all freezing and shaking due to the very cold weather. … Especially those who are in al-Mawasi very close to the beach are suffering from the cold.”
“We’re talking about Palestinians who have been displaced for more than 14 months. They still have the same tent. There [are] no tent tarps. It’s also very expensive to afford any nylon or any equipment or tools to cover your tent and even winter clothes [and] blankets.”
Mahmoud told NBC his family was living a ‘harsh’ existence.
“We sleep on the sand without any covers, and the tent does not protect us from the cold and chill,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. It’s a very tragic life, exhaustion, and the children are constantly sick due to the cold and the effects of the war.”
Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians , more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.
The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands are packed into tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in.
Aid groups have struggled to deliver food and supplies and say there are shortages of blankets, warm clothing and firewood.
The toll of the war has been particularly brutal on children.
NBC quoted the United Nations as saying that over 14,500 children have been killed since the war began.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said a child dies every hour in Gaza.
But Israel has said it is doing as much as it can.
NBC quoted COGAT, Israel’s military liaison with the Palestinians, as saying that it has allowed 9,300 tons of winter-related items into Gaza over the past three months.
In all, 24,000 tons of winter supplies have been allowed into Gaza since the beginning of the war.
Israel has increased the amount of aid it allows into the territory, reaching an average of 130 trucks a day so far this month, up from around 70 a day in October and November.
Still, the amount remains well below than previous months.
The United Nations says it is unable to distribute more than half the aid because Israeli forces deny permission to move within Gaza or because of rampant lawlessness and theft from trucks.
What do experts say?
Experts have slammed Israel’s actions.
“For over 14 months, children have been at the sharp edge of this nightmare… In Gaza the reality for over a million children is fear, utter deprivation and unimaginable suffering,” Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF communications specialist, was quoted as saying by CNN.
“The war on children in Gaza stands as a stark reminder of our collective responsibility. A generation of children is enduring the brutal violation of their rights and the destruction of their futures.”
They say even worse could be in store for children.
“Cold injuries, such as frostbite and hypothermia, pose grave risks to young children in tents and other makeshift shelters that are ill-equipped for freezing weather,” Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East, told NBC last week.
“With temperatures expected to drop further in the coming days, it is tragically foreseeable that more children’s lives will be lost to the inhumane conditions they are enduring, which offer no protection from the cold,” he added.
With inputs from agencies
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