By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 28 December 2024
Edit Thread

Many warnings given that Israeli ‘strangulation of Gaza’ would lead to babies freezing to death: NRC

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said the deaths of babies in Gaza due to hypothermia is a “man-made” catastrophe. In a short post on social media, Egeland said warnings that children would freeze to death had been given “many times”.

“We warned of this many times: the Israeli strangulation of Gaza, where neither shelter nor food reach the innocent, had led to babies freezing to death,” he said. “This catastrophe is man-made from A to Z,” he added.

At least four Palestinian infants have frozen to death over recent days as temperatures plummet in Gaza, which is in the grips of winter.

A Palestinian healthcare worker also died due to “extreme” weather conditions in the territory, where hundreds of thousands are living in flimsy tents and other makeshift shelters.

The body of Al-Hakim Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who worked at the European Gaza Hospital, was found inside his tent in the al-Mawasi area where he had died from the cold, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

 

Palestinian families endure freezing cold conditions on Gaza’s windswept coast

Displaced Palestinian families living in makeshift tent camps along the desolate beach in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah have told The Associated Press news agency that there is no way to stay warm as winter hits.

Wind from the sea whips through shelters of torn tarps and bedsheets, held together with rope and wooden frames, offering little protection from the cold.

Muhammad al-Sous, his wife and their five children live in a tent right on the beach, just metres from the waves, which, during high seas, have washed away their belongings.

“Their mother and I cover ourselves with one blanket and we cover them [the children] with three blankets that we got from neighbours,” al-Sous told AP, adding that his children collect plastic bottles to burn for warmth in front of their tent.

“Everyone has nothing but what they are wearing,” he said.

Atta al-Hassoumi, also displaced by Israel’s war, lives along the beach with eight family members.

“We are shivering from the cold and from the situation that we are in. … I’m unable to work or do anything in war, and I am unable to do anything for them,”


Gaza authorities warn of ‘disaster’ amid freezing temperatures, decaying tents

The Government Media Office reports that 110,000 out of 135,000 tents used by displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are now out of service and have “completely deteriorated”.

It said in a statement on its Telegram channel that the Israeli military is “causing a tragic humanitarian crisis” that is once again threatening the lives of thousands of civilians as the freezing winter cold sets in.

“This catastrophic humanitarian situation is a direct result of the genocide committed by the ‘Israeli’ occupation army, which has completely destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes of these citizens, forcing them to resort to living in tents that lack the minimum requirements for a decent life.”

Several Palestinian babies have frozen to death in the past few nights. About 2 million Palestinians in the enclave have been displaced, many numerous times, as a result of devastating Israeli military attacks that have killed more than 45,000 people so far.