Six babies die of hypothermia in Gaza amid humanitarian crisis, what is known?

At least six babies have died of hypothermia in the last two weeks in the Gaza Strip , which has been hit by a wave of polar cold for several days, Zaher al Waheidi, director of the unit in the Ministry of Health in charge of counting deaths in this Palestinian territory, told EFE.

The last one died on Monday at the Friends of Patients Hospital in Gaza City, where four other babies had already died from cold in the last two weeks , its director, Said Salah, told EFE.

Waheidi confirmed that the body of a sixth child had arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.

Palestinian media identified the child as Yusef al-Shambari, who was just over a month old and lived with his family in a tent in the southern humanitarian zone of Mawasi.

In the last two weeks we have had an increase in admissions of babies due to cold. In two weeks we have had nine cases

"In the last two weeks we have had an increase in admissions of babies with cold. In two weeks we have had nine cases," explained Salah, warning that the children arrived at the centre with temperatures below 34 degrees Celsius, breathing difficulties, low blood pressure and cold extremities.

Of the rest, three improved and were discharged, while the last one remains in the intensive care unit in critical condition .

The director of the Hospital Amigos del Paciente pointed out that most of the babies who have died in the last two weeks were premature, between 30 and 40 weeks, and that premature births have increased due to the war.

A Human Rights Watch report on January 28 noted the same trend. Of 37 pregnant women interviewed by the UN in spring 2024, 28% gave birth prematurely.

"The purpose of my visit to the hospital is also so that my son Mohamed can have some warmth," Wisam Hamad, father of a 26-day-old baby who is being treated at the Amigos del Paciente, told EFE.

The Palestinian said his son is suffering from a skin infection that he contracted while living in a refugee camp in southern Gaza. Hamad is one of more than 500,000 displaced people who returned to northern Gaza (he lived in Beit Hanoun) after Israel allowed them access thanks to the ceasefire.

"There is no hospital or any other place for medical care in the city and there is almost no transportation. We travel by carts pulled by donkeys and mules to reach the hospital in extreme cold conditions," he said.

Ahmed al-Farra, head of the paediatric department at Nasser Hospital, said the number of deaths among newborn babies would continue to rise, as they could not withstand the drop in temperature without "heating, blankets and clothing".

Wafa also reported that at least three other babies are in critical condition due to the intense cold.

Despite the ceasefire, the majority of Gazans are still living in tents or makeshift shelters surrounded by rubble, without heating or sufficient resources to cope with the low temperatures.

In this regard, the director of the Government Media Office of the enclave, Ismail Al Thawabtah, called on mediators and the international community in a statement to "take urgent measures to provide mobile homes as temporary shelter for the more than 280,000 Palestinian families who lost their homes" and the entry of "fuel to provide heat and protect innocent children."

"The death of six newborns in the Gaza Strip (...) is the result of the criminal policies of the fascist occupation government and its impediment to the entry of humanitarian aid and shelter materials for more than two million citizens, while the international community remains silent in addressing the humanitarian catastrophe," Hamas denounced in another statement.

So far this winter, at least 15 babies have died in the Strip from hypothermia, Al Waheidi confirmed to EFE.

Many of these deaths have occurred in the humanitarian zone of Mawasi, in the south of the Strip, crowded with displaced people who are also living in tents after having been left homeless by Israeli bombing.