GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), A newborn baby boy was pronounced dead in the Gaza Strip on Thursday as a result of prolonged exposure to low temperatures.
Gaza’s Al-Nasser Hospital said that 29-day-old Sa’eid Abdeen died from hypothermia in al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, south of Gaza.
Abdeen’s death brings the toll of children who have died from the severe cold weather to four, while 13 other citizens have lost their lives after war-damaged buildings and structures collapsed as a result of the rainstorms that hit the territory.
In a related context, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Dr. Mohamed Abu Salmiya, warned of imminent mass deaths among children, especially premature and newborn babies, due to the severe cold wave striking the Strip.
Dr. Abu Salmiya pointed to the absence of life-saving medicines, safe heating means, and the Israeli ban on the entry of mobile homes to Gaza, calling for urgent action to avert the worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
He told Al Jazeera satellite channel that premature and newborn infants’ bodies “cannot withstand this deadly cold weather,” warning that the coming days could see rising deaths among them unless winter clothing, blankets, sufficient food, and safe homes shielding children from cold and rain are urgently provided.
