Six more babies freeze to death in Gaza as mobile homes still await entry

UNRWA reported in January that eight children had died due to the cold weather

Newborns and children are dying in Gaza's harsh winter as aid shortages worsen conditions. Getty Images

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At least six more babies have frozen to death in Gaza, a doctor and Palestinian media said, as Israel continues to block the entry of mobile homes into the enclave.

Eight children suffering from severe cold, or “cold injury”, have been admitted to the intensive care units at Patient's Friends Benevolent Society Hospital over the past two weeks, hospital director Dr Saeed Salah said in a video posted to X on Monday evening.

Three of the babies, aged just one or two days and weighing 1.7kg to 2kg, died within hours due to “severe cold”, Dr Salah said. He added that two cases were discharged from the hospital while three remain in critical condition.

Separately, the doctor was quoted by Palestinian news agency Wafa as saying that a girl, aged 60 days, died of severe cold inside a tent in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Wafa also reported that two other children had died from cold, without giving details.

“We appeal to the relevant authorities to provide caravans, tents and fuel to ensure warmth for people and protect children, especially with the arrival of a new low-pressure system,” Dr Salah said.

With most homes damaged or destroyed, Gazans are living in tents or out in the open without adequate blankets or winter clothing as temperatures have plunged in recent days.

Hamas condemned Israel's "criminal" policies that led to the six deaths, accusing it of preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and shelter for more than two million Gazans.

It called on the Gaza ceasefire mediators to immediately stop Israeli violations of the agreement and to oblige Israel to ensure shelter and winter supplies enter the strip.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in January that at least eight newborn babies had died in the Gaza Strip from hypothermia in less than three weeks because of the cold winter weather, lack of shelter and winter supplies.

Though hundreds of aid lorries have been entering Gaza daily – despite several rounds of searches and inspections at Egyptian and Israeli checkpoints – the entry of supplies for shelter, including tents and mobile homes, has been blocked since the ceasefire took effect on January 19.

Meanwhile, the move by US President Donald Trump's administration to suspend funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) has frozen $46 million for its operations in Gaza, Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for occupied Palestinian territories, said on Tuesday.

The freeze would leave six areas underfunded, including emergency medical services, rehabilitation of health facilities, co-ordination with partner organisations and medical evacuation operations, Dr Peeperkorn said, speaking from Gaza to reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva.

More than 90 per cent of Gaza's population has been displaced in Israel's war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the day Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage during attacks on southern Israel. The Israeli campaign has killed at least 48,346 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.

Both sides have said they intend to start talks on a second stage of the ceasefire, which mediators say aims to agree on the return of all remaining hostages and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops.