At least six Palestinian infants have died from hypothermia during a severe cold spell in the Gaza Strip, medical officials said.
Dr Saeed Salah, medical director of the Friends of the Patient Charitable Hospital in Gaza City, said on Tuesday that three newborns – aged between one and two days – died shortly after being admitted. Two more children also succumbed on Tuesday morning, with a sixth death reported in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency also confirmed recording the deaths of six newborns due to the severe cold wave and lack of heating over the past week.
Salah said his hospital’s nursery department had recently received eight cases of severe hypothermia, all requiring intensive care.
“Doctors confirmed that these newborn babies arrived at the hospital not suffering from any particular diseases,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from the medical facility.
“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,” he said.
Hamas decried the deaths of the newborns, calling them a result of Israel’s “criminal” policies. In a statement, it also urged mediators and the international community to intervene and ensure the entry of shelter and other essential humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli army.
The deaths of the children come as Israel continues to block the entry of temporary housing into Gaza, despite agreeing to allow it under the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Thousands of mobile homes remain stranded at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, awaiting Israeli authorisation to enter the besieged Palestinian territory.
According to the United Nations, at least eight newborns died of hypothermia in Gaza in December alone, while 74 children perished “amid the brutal conditions of winter”.
Israeli attacks on West Bank healthcare system
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also raised alarm over escalating attacks on healthcare facilities in the occupied West Bank.
“We see the current flashpoints of violence, attacks on healthcare … starkly rising in the West Bank,” Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, told journalists during a press briefing from Gaza on Tuesday.
Between April and December 2024, the WHO documented 694 attacks on healthcare facilities in the West Bank.
Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank have intensified in recent months, particularly in the north.
In Tulkarem refugee camp, Israeli forces have maintained a siege for 30 consecutive days, forcibly displacing residents.
Faisal Salama, head of the Popular Committee for Tulkarem Camp Services, told Wafa news on Tuesday that Israeli forces had demolished at least 40 residential buildings, including 100 apartments, and set fire to at least 10 homes.
In Jenin, where Israel has been conducting a month-long assault, more than 20,000 people have been forcibly displaced.
The Jenin municipality reported this week that Israeli forces had completely demolished at least 120 homes in the city’s refugee camp.