DaysofPal- An eight-month-old baby girl died early Thursday in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, after severe cold swept through the makeshift tents sheltering displaced families during a deep winter storm battering the Strip for the past two days.
Medical sources at Nasser Hospital confirmed that the infant, Rahaf Abu Jazar, succumbed to extreme cold shortly after being brought in.
Local sources reported that the family’s tent had been heavily damaged by fierce winds and relentless rain, causing temperatures inside to plummet amid the absence of heating or proper medical care.
Rahaf’s death is not the first of its kind. Dozens of children lost their lives to freezing temperatures and a lack of adequate healthcare last winter, as the Israeli blockade continues to cripple living conditions and humanitarian access.
The storm has caused widespread flooding across displacement camps. On Wednesday night, thousands of tents in various areas of Gaza were inundated or destroyed, leaving families unable to stay dry or warm as rainwater swept through their shelters.
Gaza’s Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Munir al-Bursh, warned that more fatalities among children, the elderly, and chronically ill patients are likely as temperatures continue to drop.
He said the cold “is opening a new door to death in the Strip,” stressing that accumulated moisture and stagnant water create dangerous conditions for the spread of respiratory illnesses at a time when patients cannot access proper treatment.
According to government estimates, more than 22,000 tents have been damaged in the latest storm.
Emergency shelters have collapsed, temporary water networks have failed, and rainwater has mixed with contaminated runoff, further heightening health risks for displaced families who lack sufficient protection from the winter weather.
The deepening humanitarian crisis adds yet another layer of suffering for tens of thousands of Palestinians struggling to survive the harsh winter in Gaza’s overcrowded displacement camps.
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