Infant Dies from Severe Cold in Gaza
The victim, eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar, succumbed as nighttime temperatures plummeted across the region, where thousands of families remain confined to deteriorating tent encampments following more than two years of conflict.
Munir al-Bursh, Gaza's Health Ministry director, confirmed the fatality and issued an urgent warning about mounting risks to vulnerable groups trapped in waterlogged emergency shelters.
"Low temperatures are ravaging children, the elderly and the sick," al-Bursh told media, detailing medical emergencies including severe hypothermia, respiratory failure, and life-threatening complications from cold exposure.
The health official emphasized that moisture accumulation and standing water within tent structures have generated ideal conditions for pneumonia outbreaks and respiratory diseases, while medical supplies and treatment facilities remain critically scarce.
Gaza's Civil Defense reported catastrophic flooding across multiple displacement sites, with entire encampments now underwater. Submerged locations include the al-Mawasi sector in Khan Younis, al-Bassa and al-Baraka zones in Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat's Central Market vicinity, and Yarmouk alongside the Port (al-Mina) districts.
"Displaced citizens, with their children and women, are drowning now," the Civil Defense stated, characterizing conditions inside camps as "tragic" as torrential rains continue destroying temporary structures despite international humanitarian appeals.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal revealed to media that emergency responders fielded over 2,500 distress communications within a single 24-hour period from families whose shelters were inundated during the storm system.
Heavy precipitation linked to a new winter weather pattern has flooded hundreds of tents housing displaced Palestinians for two consecutive days across the territory.
Emergency crews evacuated dozens of completely submerged tents in Rafah, the southern city, as floodwaters overwhelmed the structures.
Basal cautioned that approximately 250,000 families residing in displacement camps throughout Gaza face severe exposure risks from freezing conditions and rainwater infiltration in their compromised shelters.
Gaza's media office had issued advance warnings earlier this week about a polar low-pressure system forecast to impact the enclave from Wednesday through Friday evening, posing grave threats to hundreds of thousands of displaced residents.
Since Wednesday, thousands of tents housing survivors have transformed into standing pools, saturating bedding materials, clothing, and food stores while leaving hundreds of Palestinian families without protection from the elements or sources of warmth.
Previous assessments indicate Gaza requires approximately 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing structures to address minimum shelter requirements for Palestinians following extensive infrastructure destruction throughout two years of military operations. United Nations officials estimate reconstruction costs at roughly $70 billion.
Israeli military operations have resulted in more than 70,000 Palestinian deaths and over 171,000 injuries in Gaza since October 2023. Hostilities ceased under a ceasefire agreement implemented two months prior.
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