Gaza hospital says three babies die of 'severe temperature drop'

The chief pediatric doctor at a southern Gaza hospital told AFP that three babies had died of "severe temperature drop" this week, as the war-ravaged Palestinian territory grapples with winter cold.

In the most recent case, Dr. Ahmed al-Farra of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis city said a three-week-old girl "was brought to the emergency room with a severe temperature drop, which led to her death".

Farra, the head of the hospital's pediatric services, mentioned two other cases his team handled on Tuesday.

"A three-day-old baby and another baby, less than a month old, both died after a severe temperature drop," he said.

"This is due to the fact that they live in tents," added the doctor, referring to Palestinians displaced by the more than 14-month war in Gaza who have sought shelter in makeshift camps, many in the coastal Khan Yunis area.

"The tents do not protect from the cold, and it gets very cold at night, with no way to keep warm," said Farra.

The risk to newborns is particularly acute, he added, as many mothers suffer malnutrition affecting the quality of the milk their babies feed on.

The deceased three-week-old girl, Sila al-Faseeh, lived in the Al-Mawasi tent city, on the Mediterranean coast near Khan Yunis.

Her father, Mahmoud al-Faseeh, told AFP that in her final hours, "the little girl woke up two or three times during the night to breastfeed".

In the morning, the parents saw "she had bitten her tongue and was bleeding", said the father.

"We took her to the doctor, who told us it was due to the cold, and there have been several cases with similar symptoms."

Faseeh said it was "extremely cold, and the tent is not suitable for living. The children are always sick."

The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since the war broke out with Palestinian militant group Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

According to Israel's weather service, temperatures in Gaza in recent days were as low as eight degrees Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) at night.