CNN
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Seven babies have died from Gaza hypothermia since Sunday, according to medical officials at Strip.
Dr. Said Sarah, medical director of the Patient Friends and Benevolent Association Hospital (PFBS) in Northern Gaza, warned of the “disaster” of an increase in babies suffering from hypothermia.
Over the past two weeks, eight babies with hypothermia have been hospitalized at a medical facility in Gaza City, Dr. Sarah said. Of these, three were admitted to intensive care units, and the other three died “within hours” of their arrival.
On Tuesday, the fourth baby, just 69 days ago, died overnight, Dr. Sarah added. Further south, two other babies with hypothermia have died at Nasser Hospital, Khan Yunis, where a healthcare worker told journalists.
The death toll rose to seven on Wednesday after Sheila Abdel Qadar, who was less than two months old, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health Director, Dr Munier Al-Bash.
“The destruction of medical facilities by (Israel) occupations and the destruction of medical equipment and devices for newborns have led to more casualties each day, especially among newborns,” Dr. Al Bahsh said in a statement released Wednesday.
“To bring warmth to people, we need more caravans, tents and fuel,” he added that such regulations would stop this type of “stop a catastrophe from repeating itself” and “preventing the death of a newborn baby from hypothermia and frostbite.”
The fragile ceasefire provided the Gaza people of Israel’s months-long military campaign with a moment of reprieve from Israel’s months-long military campaign, launched in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and saw more than 250 hostages.
At least 48,348 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, with 111,761 more injured, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday.
Survivors say they struggle to rebuild their communities and harmonize the destroyed destruction. According to the UN Office for Humanitarian Coordination, 20 out of 35 hospitals are partially functioning.
Hamas repeatedly accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement and obstructing humanitarian invasions into Israel. The accusations denied by Israel.
On February 14, Cogat said 4,200 humanitarian trucks were entering the Gaza Strip that week, carrying food, fuel, medical supplies, tents and shelter equipment in compliance with ceasefire and hostage transactions. Cogat added that 16,800 trucks of aid had come to Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on January 19th.
At Nasser Hospital, a Palestinian mother gently stroked a small pale baby wrapped in a blanket. Two months old Yousaf al-Najjar is one of many neonatal patients being treated for hypothermia.
CNN footage from the hospital on Tuesday showed the mother trying to check the boy’s temperature. She said she became like a “skeleton.” The family has been replaced in a nearby tent, with at least 15 other relatives.
“I put my lips on his face and his legs, but they’re frozen,” she told CNN. “The kids are dying from the cold weather.
“We don’t have any covers or anything,” she added. “My son can see death.”
According to Dr. Fidaa Al Nadi, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Baby Yousaf was born early. His two kilograms of weight made him more vulnerable to hypothermia, Dr. Al Nadi told CNN.
“Every day we deal with hypothermia (suffering) children, many of them die,” she said Tuesday. “The problem isn’t the hospital. That’s the condition that the kids live in either in tents or in a smashed home.”
The Israeli war in Gaza pushed many Palestinians into tent camps. At least 1.9 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations. Many people are seeking shelter in vast outdoor areas and have lived for months in makeshift tents made of cloth and nylon. In cold climates, newborns and children up to three months are one of the most at risk for respiratory infections, blood supply and infections.
Fikr Shilltoot, director of the UK-based NGO, said medical assistance for Palestinians and that the deaths of these six Palestinian babies are “a direct result of restrictions on Israeli humanitarian assistance.”
“Newborns should not die from Gaza’s hypothermia. This is not a tragedy of nature, it is an artificial crisis,” Shiletoot said in a statement shared with CNN on Tuesday. “If appropriate assistance, including supply of shelters, is allowed to reach civilians and hospitals, these deaths will be completely preventable.”
