Seven Children Dead from Cold in Gaza amid Storms and Collapsing Shelters
NEWS
Three more children have died from extreme cold in Gaza, raising the winter death toll to seven, as officials warn that an incoming polar storm and ongoing aid restrictions threaten millions already living in desperate conditions.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Monday that three children have died from extreme cold, bringing the total number of child deaths since the start of winter to seven, as officials warned of catastrophic consequences from an incoming polar weather system threatening around 1.5 million Palestinians.
Civil Defense authorities and Al-Shifa Hospital also reported four additional deaths caused by partial collapses of war-damaged buildings west of Gaza City, triggered by strong winds and heavy rain battering the enclave.
In the central Gaza Strip, thousands of displaced residents in the Nuseirat refugee camp were forced to seek shelter inside mosques and partially destroyed structures after violent winds tore down their tents.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu Agency that a new polar air depression began affecting Gaza on Tuesday, warning that its impact could be devastating for families already living in dire conditions. He said more than 1.5 million people are currently sheltering in tents, many of which are unable to withstand severe weather.
Basal warned that the deteriorating conditions could lead to further casualties, as well as the collapse of unstable buildings and the flooding of displacement camps. He renewed his appeal to the international community and humanitarian organizations to urgently intervene, stressing the need to provide assistance that preserves civilians’ dignity and prevents further loss of life.
Palestinian weather forecaster Laith Al-Alami said the Palestinian territories are being affected by a deep and stormy low-pressure system from Monday night through Tuesday evening, accompanied by a very cold polar air mass.
He warned of sharply dropping temperatures, strong winds—particularly along the coast—and heavy rainfall across all governorates, including Gaza, with the possibility of thunderstorms and hail. He cautioned that high wind speeds pose a serious threat to tents housing displaced families.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that more than 18,500 people in Gaza, including around 4,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation.
Ghebreyesus urged additional countries to accept patients from Gaza and called for the resumption of medical evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. He noted that over the past week, the organization supported the evacuation of 18 patients and 36 companions to Jordan for specialized treatment, including care for severe injuries and life-threatening illnesses.
With US backing, Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, which lasted two years and resulted in the killing of more than 71,000 Palestinians and the injury of over 171,000 others, most of them women and children.
Despite the start of the first phase of a ceasefire based on a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, Israeli authorities continue to severely restrict the entry of food, medicine, medical supplies, and shelter materials into Gaza, where approximately 2.4 million Palestinians are living under catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
(PC, AJA)
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I am not religious, I thought not anyway. There are a lot of different kinds of Quaker and broadly speaking there are those that believe that it is a christian faith and then there are the other extreme, like my family and that didn't believe in all that claptrap from these two books. We were told we didn't have to sing hymns at school, if we were not comfortable with the moralising lyrics that are just wrong. Violence and religion are words that should not be a phrase.
We were encouraged to not stand up and sign Jerusalem at the end of the school year. My mother encouraged us to think about nationalism and decide whether it was a good idea to stay sat down and not sing the national anthem.
It was also a great way for the right wing Establishment can maintain its wealth and power. Just like our political system which is the same problem to yet be fixed
At this point in history everyone is predicting world war. War is great for the economy and believe it or not the military most want the newest way to kill even better. Yes indeed, they think it is a better type of killing.
So it sadly boils down to needing the space for the latest models!
It is mind boggling. My head is truly boggled already.
In fact I now feel like I have been through a mincer. I am so many tiny pieces, will I ever be put back together like a jigsaw? The worrying thing is, that I feel these things from my freezing place. My friends, two journalists, are in a tent somewhere in the south of Gaza with their film crew and they are looking after an ever growing group of terrified orphans. Palestinians always feed their children before themselves and the numbers of orphans is so appalling I can't find the words. I message with them a few times a day on Signal and I give her all i can afford, which is only £30 a week via a friend with them that has a paypal account.
So she gets the whole lot to put into the kitty. Do not be fooled by market stalls full of fruit and vegetables and stalls with chicken and other protein, because the vast majority cannot afford it. It is a deliberate strategy to ratchet up the Palestinians suffering, like removing a cork from a bottle of wine, but continuing anyway until it breaks.
If anyone can afford to help out there then please get in touch. There's fierce winds and rain and hail and artic conditions on its way and will hit Gaza this weekend.