After bomb and famine, children in Gaza now die from the cold

According to Doctors Without Borders, between October and December 2024, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis admitted 325 babies, with “newborns and premature babies suffering from potentially fatal respiratory infections, dehydration and other complications.”

According to Mohammed Abu Tayyem, a pediatrician at Nasser, the pediatric ward is recording an increase in the number of children with acute bronchiolitis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections and even exacerbations of bronchial asthma. “Doctors attribute these rising cases to harsh winter weather, terrible tent conditions and limited heating supplies, which make premature and low birth weight babies more vulnerable to hypothermia,” the UN report explained.

Commenting on the deaths of at least seven newborns due to hypothermia in December, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus warned that “more children are in danger” and that while “every child deserves a healthy start in life and sure, the children of Gaza are paying the price of war with their own lives.”

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell reiterated that “inadequate shelter, lack of access to nutrition and healthcare, the dire health situation and now winter weather put the lives of every child in Gaza at risk”, with that newborns and children with health problems are especially vulnerable.

On January 3, the IOM (International Organization for Migration) expressed “deep concern” about the “devastating impact of winter rains and freezing temperatures on displaced Palestinians in Gaza”, adding that the tragic deaths due to hypothermia underscore the critical need for shelter and other assistance to immediately reach people on the Strip.

At IOM, the estimate is that Gaza needs 1.5 million emergency shelter items to get through the winter. But he only managed to deliver 180 thousand. The rest are in warehouses and entry points in the region.