Ali Al-Batran Follows His Twins, The Number Of Babies Who Died Due To Coolness In Gaza Has Increased Again

Illustration of babies in Gaza. (Source: WAFA)

JAKARTA - The number of babies who died from the cold in the Gaza Strip, Palestine increased after medical sources reported the death of Ali Al-Batran on Monday morning.

The one-month-old baby followed his twin Jumaa Al-Batran who died of cold in Gaza on Sunday.

Ali's death, whose condition yesterday was said to have worsened due to living in a tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, increased the number of infants who died from the cold in Gaza to six within a week, quoted from WAFA December 30.

A few days ago, four newborns aged between 4 and 21 died from low temperatures and severe cold temperatures.

According to these sources, the lack of food security among mothers has led to the emergence of new cases of disease among children, which exacerbated the health situation given the difficult conditions experienced by the region.

Meanwhile, Director of Medical Aid in Gaza and North Gaza, Muhammad Abu Afash, said children die every day due to severe cold weather and lack of living needs such as food, drinks and baby milk. This shows that there are no tents, blankets, clothes, or food for children.

Abu Afash added that the current humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip was what had been previously warned, so a warning could arise again about the dangers of martyrdom and freezing the entire family in the tents.

Earlier, the UN Agency's Commissioner-General for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) warned that children in Gaza face the risk of death from cold weather due to the absence of adequate housing.

"Gaza babies can die of cold weather and lack of shelter," Philippe Lazzarini said on platform X on Friday night.

Lazzarini wrote that winter supplies such as blankets and mattresses have been stuck for months, awaiting Israeli approval to enter Gaza. The Palestinian enclave was inhumanely blockaded by Israel, which has waged a genocide war since the first week of October 2023.

Separately, Gaza's health authorities confirmed on Sunday that the death toll from Palestine since the latest conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, had reached 45,541, while the injured reached 108,338, the majority being women and children.