GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), A Palestinian infant died on Friday from severe cold while sheltering with her family inside a makeshift tent in Gaza, as Israeli restrictions continue to block the entry of mobile homes and essential relief supplies for displaced civilians living in flooded camps.
According to medical sources in the enclave, the number of children who died within the past 24 hours due to the extreme cold rose to two, after infant Rahaf Abu Jazar passed away inside her family’s tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Thursday morning.
The martyrdom of the child came as a result of freezing temperatures brought on by a powerful winter storm sweeping the Strip. Since early Wednesday, Gaza has been battered by a severe weather system that has submerged thousands of displacement tents across multiple areas due to heavy rainfall. Weather forecasts indicate that the stormy conditions are expected to persist through Friday evening.
This humanitarian tragedy unfolds in the context of the ongoing genocide carried out by Israeli occupation forces since October 7, 2023 for two years, with US and European backing. The genocidal war has included widespread killing, starvation, destruction, forced displacement, and mass arrests, in open disregard of international appeals and binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice to halt the violence.
The genocide has so far left more than 241,000 Palestinians martyred or wounded, the majority of them women and children. More than 11,000 people remain missing, while hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians continue to endure harsh living conditions and famine, which has claimed the lives of many, most of them children.
