The Number of Babies Who Died Due to the Cold in the Gaza Strip Increased Again

Illustration of a child in a Gaza refugee camp flooded. (Twitter/@UNLazzarini)

A Palestinian baby died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, Palestine on Tuesday, highlighting the dire humanitarian conditions in the devastated region.

Shaza Abu Jarad's family found the three-month-old baby on Tuesday morning in their tent in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City.

"He was cold, and he died," the baby's father, Mohamed Abu Jarad, told the Associated Press by phone after the funeral, as quoted by Daily Sabah (21/1).

"He died of cold," he said bitterly.

Mohamed, who worked in Israel before the war, lives with his wife and their other seven children in an emergency tent after their home was destroyed by Israeli bombardment.

"The family took the baby to Al-Ahly hospital, where a doctor declared her dead of hypothermia," her uncle, Khalid Abu Jarad, said.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed that the baby died of hypothermia.

Mohamed's family were among hundreds of thousands sheltering in tent camps and ruined buildings from the war in Gaza, which is experiencing a cold and wet winter, with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) at night.

Shaza Abu Jarad is the ninth child to die of severe cold this winter in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry.

More than 100 children have died since the start of the ceasefire in October 2025, including a 27-day-old baby girl who died of hypothermia over the weekend.

The ceasefire halted Israel's two-year-old war of genocide in Gaza and allowed for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, especially food.

However, residents say a shortage of blankets and warm clothing is still occurring, and firewood for bonfires is scarce. There has been no central electricity flow in Gaza since the first days of the war in 2023, and fuel for generators is scarce.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the recent cold weather and heavy rains in Gaza "ultimately pose a threat to survival."