Children freeze in Gaza as Israel blocks aid
At least six children have died overnight in Gaza because of cold weather and lack of heating as Israel continues to largely restrict the entry of tents and mobile homes into the Palestinian territory.
According to medical sources, five of the children died in the Friends of the Patient Hospital in Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City, while the sixth child died in the city of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
One of the victims, a baby girl called Sham, was just a few days old.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians across Gaza are living among the rubble of their destroyed homes, while strong winds and heavy rains have turned makeshift shelters into barely liveable spaces.
The humanitarian crisis is being worsened by Israel’s blockade on aid and mobile homes.
Hamas blamed Israel’s “criminal policies” for the preventable deaths.
“The death of six newborn babies in the Gaza Strip, due to the severe cold and lack of heating, and the presence of a number of children in hospitals in critical condition” is the result of Israel’s “criminal policies” and “its prevention of the entry of humanitarian aid and shelter materials” for more than two million people”, the Palestinian group said.
It said this takes place at a time “when the international community continues its silence on addressing the unprecedented humanitarian disaster” unfolding in Gaza as a result of the Israeli “aggression and siege”.
Hamas demanded mediators to take immediate action to stop Israel’s “violation of the ceasefire agreement, oblige it to implement the humanitarian protocol associated with it, and ensure the entry of shelter, heating and urgent medical aid supplies” to Gaza.
It said that the suffering of people in the Gaza Strip is part of a systematic Israel’s strategy of deliberate obstruction of adequate shelters, mobile homes and makeshift tents from entering Gaza.
According to the ceasefire agreement, 200,000 makeshift tents must enter Gaza – but what has come into the Strip since the onset of this phase is only 19,000 makeshift tents. These have been distributed to many geographical locations, just a fraction of the basic necessities of Gaza’s population.
Also, only 12 caravans with mobile shelters have been sent into the Gaza Strip, not for sheltering the displaced population, but as operation base for humanitarian aid agencies. Under the agreement at least 60,000 mobile homes ought to have been allowed into Gaza by now as part of the deal.
Israeli forces are still banning the entry of enough materials, leaving children and the elderly vulnerable to cope with the harsh winter conditions.
