Five Palestinian infants die from extreme cold amid Israeli Gaza siege
A prematurely born infant lies in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit at the Patient Friend’s Benevolent Society hospital in Gaza City, 25 February 2025
Mera Aladam reports in Middle East Eye on 25 February 2025:
Five Palestinian newborn babies have died from extreme cold in the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip, a hospital director has said, amid continued Israeli delays in allowing the entrance of caravans and tents to shelter displaced families.
Saeed Salah, the chief of Friends of the Patient Charity Hospital, told media outlets on Monday that the nursery department had handled nine cases over the past two weeks, all of which involved severe health conditions caused by the harsh weather.
He added that these cases had all come from northern Gaza, where the majority reside in poorly made tents made of worn-out-cloth that are out in the open and without heating.
Dr Salah noted that one child remains in intensive care, where he is placed on a ventilator, and three others have been discharged from the hospital as their condition had improved.
The five dead infants were aged between one day and two weeks, according to him. “Three cases died within hours of admission. They were young and weighed between 1.7 and two kilograms,” he said. The children endure complications such as respiratory failure, liver failure, low blood pressure, and blue skin colour as a result of this weather, he added.
He also noted that some of the most prominent cases arriving at the hospital arrive with low body temperatures reaching 32 and 33 degrees Celsius. Local media separately reported that another infant also succumbed to the poor weather conditions.