At least six babies have died in the last two weeks in Gaza due to cold weather and lack of appropriate shelter and heating, Palestinian doctors and health officers say.
Doctors at a hospital for a well -intentioned patient’s company in the city of Gazi, in the north, said that nine newborn babies suffering from cold injuries were received, five of whom died, with each other in a critical state.
The family of two -month -old girls also said she died because of the cold near the southern town of Khan Younis overnight.
The PFBS Hospital has invited an emergency delivery of caravan and fuel to improve the conditions for the estimated 945,000 displaced Palestinians living in tents and improvised shelters.
The Palestinian Armed Group Hamas accused Israel of not allowed in the agreed amounts of tents, caravan and other shelter stocks during the certificate that started five weeks ago. Israel denied it.
Most of the 2.1 million population of Gaza has been repeatedly displaced during the 16-month war between Israel and Hamas, and almost 70% of buildings in the territory are estimated that it has been damaged or destroyed.
The health system also collapsed, with only 18 of 35 hospitals partially functional and lack of essential medical equipment.
According to meteorological websites, the night temperature in Gaza regularly dropped below 10 ° C (50F) in the last two weeks.
On Monday night, he fell to 3C (37F), after the medical director of PFBS Hospital Dr. Saeed Salah warned in the video that three babies suffering from cold injuries, including hypothermia, died in the same period.
He said the babies are only one or two days old, with heavy weights between 1.7 kg and 2 kg (3,7-4.4 lbs).
On Tuesday, Dr. Salah and a pediatrician at the hospital, Dr. Samer Lubad, reported that two more newborns had died.
“For the past few weeks we [had] Nine newborns at our hospital. And they came with the case of calling a “cold injury” or hypothermia, “Dr. Lubad told Al Jazeera TV.
“Three babies have survived and treated successfully and released home. There is still one child in our neonatal ICU -in a critical general condition.”
He added, “Of course, this is a condition due to cold weather and lack of safe shelters, a lack of central heating and a lack of electricity in the gaza belt.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Pediatric Department at Nasser Hospital at Khan Younis told Associated Press that she had received the body of a two -month -old girl who died of hypothermia on Tuesday.
A video posted by a local journalist showed that her father and uncle was buried by a girl, who said Sham Yousf Al-Shambari had been appointed.
He said she was healthy and that her mother found her “rigid as a cold tree” when she tried to wake her up for feeding during the night inside the family tent in the al-Mawas area.
Dr Muneer Al-Boursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health’s Health in Hamas, Gaza, said a total of 15 children died in a statement because of the cold from the beginning of winter.
He also claimed that Israel “failed in accordance with humanitarian protocols, including allowing the intake of medical equipment, heating supplies, tents and mobile homes” since the truce began on January 19.
Hamas said earlier that Israel was obliged to allow in about 300,000 tents and 60,000 caravans during the first phase of a six -week job.
Israeli military body Cogat said Israel “is dedicated and fulfills the obligation to allow 4,200 trucks to help the week in Gaza,” including those who carry tents and supplies of shelters.
“Based on the information available to us, hundreds of thousands of tents have entered the Gaza tape since the agreement entered into force,” he added.
It comes due to continuous uncertainty about whether the fire interruption will continue last Saturday, when the first phase of the contract was to expire.
On Sunday, Israel delayed the release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for 10 hostages Hamas handed over, accusing the group of cynically using his hostages for propaganda purposes.
Hamas accused Israel of “sharp” a violation of the agreement and said that indirect conversations about further steps, including the second phase of the agreement, were conditioned by prisoners released.
The Israeli army launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 was taken to hostage.
Since then, at least 48,348 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health of Territory.
