Despite the cease-fire entering its fourth month in Gaza, people are still dying from the winter’s cold, rain and malnutrition.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Saturday that 10 children in Gaza have died of hypothermia since the beginning of winter. According to the ministry, a three-month-old infant died in the past 24 hours due to extreme cold at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
When temperatures drop, “children are the most affected,” Dr. Ahmad Al Farah, head of pediatrics at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, told CNN earlier this month.
“They have limited adipose tissue, a large surface area for heat loss, and low energy reserves. The most vulnerable of children are preterm and low birth weight babies,” Al Farah said.
“Hundreds of thousands of people remain in shelters, exposed to winter cold and rain conditions,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday. It added that hundreds of tents were damaged by strong winds last week.
Despite the current ceasefire, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains acute. “Lower temperatures, winds, rain and floods. Winter continues to exacerbate the misery of the people of Gaza, where the vast majority remain forcibly displaced and living in tents or semi-built buildings,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s main agency in the Palestinian territory.
“92% of homes have been damaged or destroyed and a large amount of unexploded ordnance still remains to be cleared,” Lazzarini posted on X.
Health Ministry Director-General Mounir Al-Bash said 24 people were killed when their houses collapsed during heavy winter rains.
Bodies weakened by hunger, medicine shortages and contaminated water are also contributing to the widespread disease outbreak, al-Bash said in a Facebook post on Friday.
US President Donald Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday to discuss a phase two ceasefire transition with Gaza, which would see the creation of an international peacekeeping force and the disarmament of Hamas.
Al Falah said malnutrition continues to affect pregnant women.
“Most babies are born with low birth weight due to maternal malnutrition during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, as well as maternal anxiety and psychological stress, lack of prenatal follow-up, and lack of vitamins and nutritional supplements.”
Israeli forces continue to carry out actions against suspected militants along the so-called Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip, which separates Israeli-controlled areas from Hamas-controlled areas.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday that its forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip killed “several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, planted explosives in the area, and approached our forces.”
