Fourth infant death in Gaza as tents provide poor relief from cold

Deir al-Balah: In the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been uprooted by over 15 months of war and are huddled in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter approaches, a fourth newborn has passed away from hypothermia.

When his parents woke up on Sunday, Jomaa Al-Batran, who was 20 days old, was discovered with his head as "cold as ice," according to his father Yehia.

Ali, the baby's twin brother, was transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital's intensive care unit. According to their father, the twins were delivered one month early and were only in the hospital's nursery for a day.

The hospital, like other health facilities in Gaza, has been overwhelmed and is only partially operational.

He stated that medics advised their mother to keep the infants warm, but this was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures often drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at night, AP reported.

“We are eight people, and we only have four blankets,” Al-Batran said as he cradled his son’s pale body. He described drops of dew seeping through the tent cover overnight. “Look at his color because the cold. Do you see how frozen he is?”

Children, some barefoot, stood outside and watched him mourn. The shrouded infant was placed at the feet of an imam, hardly bigger than his shoes.

After prayers, the imam removed his ankle-length garment and draped it around the father. Local health officials report that at least three more babies have died as a result of the cold in recent weeks.