Palestinian infant dies from cold in Gaza amid Israeli restrictions on aid
Winter cold turns deadly as Israel restricts the entry of tents, blankets and other shelter supplies into the devastated enclave.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that two-week-old Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair died a day earlier after being treated for severe hypothermia caused by the freezing temperatures gripping the enclave.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said the child’s death reflects the systematic collapse of basic protections in Gaza amid Israel’s genocidal war on the territory.
“Families are surviving in tents pitched on wet ground, without heating, electricity, or adequate clothing,” Abu Azzoum said. “When food, fuel, shelter and aid are blocked, the cold becomes deadly.”
More than 80 percent of Gaza’s buildings have been destroyed during Israel’s two-year war, forcing hundreds of thousands of people into fragile tents or overcrowded, makeshift shelters.
A powerful storm that recently battered the Strip killed at least 11 people as heavy rains flooded tents and strong winds caused already-damaged buildings to collapse.
“We try to dry the children’s clothes over a fire,” said Umm Mohammed Assaliya, a displaced mother in Gaza City. “There are no extra clothes. I’m exhausted. The tent we were given cannot withstand winter. We need blankets.”
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA — which the United Nations says is best equipped to distribute aid in Gaza — says Israel has blocked it from delivering assistance directly into the enclave.
“People have reportedly died when damaged buildings collapsed on families sheltering inside. Children have reportedly died from exposure to the cold,” UNRWA said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This must stop. Aid must be allowed in at scale, immediately.”
Hamas condemns ceasefire violations
Meanwhile, Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating a ceasefire agreement that came into force in October.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 393 Palestinians have been killed and 1,074 wounded in Israeli attacks since the first full day of the ceasefire on October 11.
The truce has come under further strain following the killing of senior Hamas leader Raed Saad in a targeted Israeli strike on a vehicle in western Gaza City on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Hamas official Ghazi Hamad accused Israel of altering and violating the US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
“We want to be absolutely clear: the ceasefire agreement is clear, detailed and unambiguous,” Hamad said. “Yet the Israeli occupation has distorted its text, manipulating and violating every single clause.”
“Hamas has honoured the agreement from the first day, while Israel has carried out deliberate, systematic and premeditated breaches.”
