Infant freezes to death in Gaza as Israel’s aid blockade continues

A newborn Palestinian baby has died from exposure to extreme cold in the Gaza Strip, the territory’s Health Ministry said, amid continued restrictions by Israel on the entry of shelter materials and humanitarian assistance despite severe winter conditions.

The ministry said the two-week-old infant, Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, died a day earlier after being taken for medical treatment for acute hypothermia as freezing temperatures gripped the enclave.

Officials said the death followed a winter storm last week that killed at least 14 people in Gaza. Authorities reported that more than 53,000 displacement tents were either partially or completely flooded, washed away or ripped apart by strong winds, while 13 buildings collapsed across the territory, Maktoob Media reported.

Humanitarian agencies said Israel has continued to prevent the entry of essential shelter items such as tents and mobile homes, which they described as a violation of obligations under a ceasefire agreement that came into force on October 10.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said Israeli authorities have blocked it from directly delivering aid into Gaza, even though the United Nations considers the agency best placed to distribute supplies in the enclave. In a social media statement on Tuesday, UNRWA said there were reports of people dying after damaged buildings collapsed while families were sheltering inside, and of children dying due to exposure to the cold. The agency said the situation must be halted immediately and called for humanitarian assistance to be allowed in at scale.

Hamas, meanwhile, accused Israel of repeatedly breaching the ceasefire agreement that took effect in October.

According to the latest figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 393 Palestinians have been killed and 1,074 others injured in Israeli strikes on the enclave since the first full day of the ceasefire on October 11.