20-day-old Jomaa al-Batran was found with a head "cold as ice" on Sunday morning, reports AP, citing the boy's father Yehia. The boy's twin brother Ali was taken to al-Aqsa hospital for intensive care at the same time.
Jomaa is at least one of four infants who have died in recent weeks due to hypothermia, according to representatives of local Hamas-controlled health authorities.
According to the father, the twins were born a month prematurely and only spent one day at the hospital after birth. This is because the healthcare equipment in Gaza is overwhelmed and only partially functioning.
Medical staff urged the mother to keep the babies warm, which the father says is impossible when the nighttime temperature regularly drops below 10 degrees. The family lives in a tent under difficult conditions, he describes how moisture and condensation seep onto the sleeping children at night.
We are eight people and we only have four blankets, he says.
The vast majority of Gaza's civilian population has been forced to leave their homes since the Gaza war broke out, following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year. The UN has previously warned that people living in insecure and provisional shelters may not survive the winter. At least 945,000 people are estimated to be in need of winter supplies, and both aid workers and Gaza residents testify that there is a shortage of warm clothing and blankets.
