Newborns in Gaza are freezing to death as Israel tightens siege

Just as Refaat Alareer feared, the rain did bring Gaza more pain, but the winter cold is freezing his compatriots to death.

One of the last tweets of Palestinian martyr Refaat Alareer is a short video of rain drops falling on a Gazan street with a mournful line, “The rain in Gaza brings more pain.” That tweet was posted on November 27, 2023. Refaat would be killed with several family members over a week later on December 6. He wouldn’t live to see the unabashed Israeli barbarism that has been perpetrated on his people over the next 13 months with still no end in sight. He wouldn’t be there to tell their stories in that inimitable style of his and shed light on the harrowing conditions his people have been forced to endure as the world silently watches on, utterly powerless to bring an end to this live-streamed Holocaust that has few parallels in history. The rains that Refaat feared have come and gone, as have another summer and winter, and more rains, bringing with them more misery for the Palestinians battling a monstrous enemy hellbent on their extermination all on their own.

This year the winter cold is so severe that not just children but even adults are freezing to death. The punishing Israeli siege on Gaza has meant that only trickles of aid is reaching certain parts of Gaza — almost none of it is reaching north Gaza where nearly 100,000 people remain trapped. The lack of food in the enclave has left the Palestinians famished and emaciated and significantly reduced their immunity against the ravages of weather and diseases. The clothes on their backs are tattered, providing them barely any protection against the elements. There is a severe shortage of blankets and warm clothing, there is no heating. The tents are dilapidated, worn out, and fail to keep the cold sea breeze from the Mediterranean, tormenting their dwellers. In such a tragic atmosphere, the children, especially the newborns, are the most vulnerable. If the Western-supplied bombs dropped by the Israeli terrorists don’t get them, the weather conditions do. At least four newborns have perished just over the last week.

Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, had posted a devastating Christmas Day update on X about the fate of a days-old girl, who froze to death in her parents’ tent due to the extreme cold:

Sila Mahmoud Al-Faseeh, froze to death from the extreme cold in the tents located on the beach in Mawasi Khan Yunis, in the area declared by the Israeli occupation as a “temporary safe humanitarian zone for displaced persons.”

Ayesha Al-Qassas, an 11-day-old baby, met a similar fate in her family’s tent in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis.

Quds News Network on December 26 reported four infants — who didn’t suffer from poor health — had died within just 72 hours due to extreme cold and lack of protection from the weather.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, head of pediatrics and obstetrics at Nasser Hospital, stated that in the past 72 hours, four Gazan newborns, who were seeking refuge with their families in tents in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, have died.

Al-Farra confirmed that the four infants who passed away were in good health and had not previously suffered from heart or respiratory diseases, but due to low temperatures and the lack of warm shelter, they passed away.

Even the adults are finding it difficult to cope with the catastrophic condition in Gaza.

Ahmad Al-Zaharneh passed away this morning due to the intense cold.

On December 27, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza released a calamitous update:

Al-Hakim Ahmad Al-Zaharneh, who works as part of our staff at the European Gaza Hospital, died as a result of the extreme cold experienced by the residents of the Gaza Strip. His body was found inside his tent in the Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

This incident comes in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions in which displaced citizens live, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and the lack of heating means in the tents.

The situation inside Gaza has only been getting worse with each passing day since the Israeli genocide kicked into gear on October 7, 2023. The siege has become worse, the tents are barely holding on, the people have been displaced multiple times, they are going hungry for days, lines at soup kitchens are excruciatingly long, hospitals are barely functioning, civil defence teams can’t keep up with the relentless Israeli bombardments and the resulting casualties — still, there is no end in sight to this Western-funded and supported Israeli barbarism. Jewish exceptionalism ensures that there is no a censure or criticism of the Jewish supremacist state, even if it carries out its depraved genocide in broad daylight. It does as it pleases.

The most conservative estimates put the number of Palestinians slaughtered by Israel since October 7, 2023 at over 300,000. As the Israelis continue to kill at will — not just with bombs but also with diseases, starvation, and the siege that deprives the Palestinians of means to protect themselves from punishing weather — there is no telling at what number of dead Palestinians will this bonfire of humanity stop. Just as Refaat feared, the rain did bring Gaza more pain, but the winter cold is freezing his compatriots to death.

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