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Six children in Gaza die from cold amid aid blockade
At least six children have died due to the severe cold in the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.
Five of them died in the Friends of the Patient Hospital in the Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City, while the sixth child died in the city of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
One of the victims, a baby girl called Sham, was just a few days old.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians across Gaza are living among the rubble of their destroyed homes, while strong winds and heavy rains have turned makeshift shelters into barely liveable spaces.
The humanitarian crisis is being worsened by Israel’s blockade on aid and mobile homes.
‘Children coughing and vomiting all night’ amid winter cold in Gaza
The freezing weather has been only adding to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced families across Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalil spoke to a family of eight in the Shujayea neighbourhood in Gaza City who have been forced to survive in a tent after finding their home destroyed by the Israeli military.
“Living in a tent is really hard. A day ago, we were all soaked in rain water. The ground is still wet and cold and our young children cannot endure it,” Ghassan Alsosi said.
“They have been coughing and vomiting all night long. I’m helpless, especially because there’s no medicine available. My children are in pain and I’m helpless. I cannot afford to buy them clothes or blankets.”
Manal Alsosi, Ghassan’s wife, said the family cannot endure living like this much longer.
“We need cover and medicine, at least for the vulnerable children. A tent does not protect you from the cold or the rain in winter. We are suffering day and night,” she said.
Children dying from ‘cold injury’
I’ve just visited the Friends of the Patient medical facility in the heart of Gaza City and could clearly see how children are bearing the brunt of the suffering due to the shattered infrastructure and unreliable electricity.
Nine cases from Gaza City arrived in the hospital in the past few days suffering from severe cold or “cold injury” as it was described by doctors at the hospital.
Five of these have already died: Three in the first hours of their arrival and two earlier this morning. There’s one more fatality in Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Three have recovered, but are still in need of shelter, warmth and a proper place to provide them with the necessary protection.
Doctors confirmed that these newborn babies arrived to the hospital not suffering from any particular diseases. They were simply born and their family had no way to keep them warm – and this has been the case for the past few days since the cold weather struck the area.
Meanwhile, the source of power inside the hospital can shut down at any moment due to the shortage of fuel coming to medical facilities across the Gaza Strip.
Israeli army fires on vessels off Gaza coast
The military says it fired salvos twice at boats, forcing them to return to the shore.
In a separate statement, the military also said Israeli troops opened fire to repel people who “posed a threat to them” in Gaza. It’s unclear if there were any casualties.
The Israeli army “calls on Palestinian civilians to obey … instructions, not approach the forces deployed in the area, and to pass through the agreed checkpoints”, it said.
