Seven babies die of hypothermia in Gaza, health officials say

Seven babies have died from hypothermia in Gaza since Sunday, according to health care officials in the strip, who warn there will be more such deaths unless more aid enters the enclave.

Seven babies have died from hypothermia in Gaza since Sunday, according to health care officials in the strip, who warn there will be more such deaths unless more aid enters the enclave. Dr. Saeed Salah, the medical director of the Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital (PFBS), northern Gaza, warned of a “disaster” in the rising number of babies suffering from hypothermia, as they try to survive winter conditions in the strip. In the past two weeks, eight babies with hypothermia were admitted to the medical facility in Gaza City, said Dr. Salah. Of those, three were admitted to the intensive care unit and three others died “within hours” of arrival. On Tuesday, a fourth baby who was just 69 days old died overnight, Dr. Salah added. Further south, two other babies with hypothermia symptoms died in Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis, health workers there told journalists. Then on Wednesday, the death toll rose to seven after Seela Abdel Qader, who was less than two months old, died, according to Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health. “Cold waves are causing more victims every day, especially among newborns, due to the (Israeli) occupation’s destruction of their health facilities, as well as the destruction of medical equipment and devices for newborns,” Dr. Al-Bursh said in a statement published by the health ministry Wednesday.