Cold-related deaths in Gaza rise to 21, including 18 children

The government media office in the Gaza Strip announced today, Sunday, that the number of deaths due to severe cold in displacement camps has risen to 21, including 18 children, as a result of the consequences of the Israeli genocide that has lasted for two years.

This came in a statement from the office, the day after the announcement of the death of infant Mahmoud Al-Aqra, one week old, due to severe cold that caused him to shiver before he passed away at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central part of the Strip, according to Adnan Al-Aqra, the child's father.

The office warned of the catastrophic humanitarian repercussions resulting from the severe cold waves hitting the Gaza Strip, in light of the ongoing (Israeli) genocide and suffocating siege, and the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the forced displacement of more than one and a half million Palestinians.

It added that the number of deaths due to severe cold has risen since the start of the genocide on October 8, 2023, until today, Sunday, to 21 martyrs, all of whom are displaced people from forced shelter camps, and confirmed that among the deaths are 18 children, a dangerous indicator of the magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe threatening the lives of the most vulnerable groups.

On Friday, a new low-pressure system accompanied by rain and stormy winds began in the Strip, while the Palestinian Meteorological Department said yesterday that there remains a chance of scattered showers in some areas with strong winds reaching speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour at times.

The government media office pointed out that the number of deaths due to severe cold since the beginning of the current winter season last December reached 4, in the absence of heating means, lack of safe shelter, shortage of blankets and winter clothes, and the continued prevention of sufficient humanitarian aid.

It also strongly warned of the repercussions of subsequent low-pressure systems, and the accompanying waves of frost and severe cold in the coming days, which threaten to increase the number of victims, especially among children, the sick, and the elderly.

The government media office in Gaza held the Israeli occupation fully and directly responsible for these crimes and deadly outcomes, considering them an extension of policies of slow killing, starvation, and displacement.

It called on the international community, the United Nations, and humanitarian and human rights organizations to take immediate and urgent action to provide safe shelter centers, and to allow the entry of heating and relief supplies without restrictions, and to save what remains of lives before it is too late.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said in a statement that the current low-pressure system caused thousands of displaced people's tents to fly away and be damaged, stressing that this crisis is a direct result of Israel's prevention of building materials and obstruction of reconstruction.

During the low-pressure systems that have hit the Strip since last December, dozens of residential buildings damaged by previous Israeli shelling collapsed, resulting in casualties.

In a related context, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that the death toll of Palestinian victims due to the Israeli genocide since October 2023 has risen to 71,412 martyrs and 171,314 injured.

The ministry said in a statistical statement that the Strip's hospitals received 3 martyrs and 9 injuries during the past 48 hours.

The Ministry of Health reported that Israel has killed 442 Palestinians and injured 1,236 others in its violations of the ceasefire agreement since last October 11.

In addition to the victims, the genocide, which Israel began on October 8, 2023, with American support, and lasted for two years, left massive destruction affecting 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the Strip, with a reconstruction cost estimated by the United Nations at about 70 billion dollars.