New parents should not have to worry about keeping their babies alive and warm during those first days and weeks of their newborns’ lives. But heartbreakingly, that’s the situation that is still unfolding in Gaza as the war between Israel and Palestine continues to rage on. In the past week alone, four babies have died of hypothermia as the area experiences freezing temperatures while their families live in tents and fight to survive.
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A newborn died from the 'extreme cold' in Gaza this week.
According to a message shared by Gaza’s director general of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, on X (formerly Twitter), a newborn baby named Sela Mahmoud Al-Fasih “froze to death from the extreme cold.” In his post, Dr. Al-Bursh said that the baby’s family was on the beach in Mawasi Khan Yunis, where they were living in tents. The area is designated as a “temporary safe humanitarian zone” for people displaced from their homes as a result of the war.
At least four infants have died of hypothermia in the past week.
CNN reported that Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, the head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said that without access to heat while living in tent camps, the babies have not been able to survive. The babies who died this week include a 3-month-old and a 1-month-old.
Nasser Hospital's neonatal ICU sees least five cases of hypothermia in babies each day.
The effects of the war and the freezing temperatures make it easier than ever for babies to freeze. Dr. Al-Farra told CNN that new moms struggle to breastfeed under these conditions. In addition, formula availability is limited, while fuel and electricity shortages are making it harder than ever to treat patients. He called this “one of the disastrous results of this criminal war.”
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Newborn baby Sela's parents talked to CNN.
“I was warming her and holding her. But … [we] didn’t have extra clothes for me to warm this girl,” 3-week-old Sela’s mother, Nariman Al-Fasih, told the outlet.
Just days ago, the UN’s Philippe Lazzarini tweeted a tragic statistic from UNICEF: 14,500 children have died since the war on Gaza began. That means one child is killed every hour in Palestine.
Ceasefire talks are ongoing.
Reuters reported earlier this week, both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of delaying the ceasefire. Hamas claims Israel introduced new conditions that need to be met. On the other hand, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Hamas “is reneging on understandings that have already been reached, and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations.”
