Medics say 6 babies have died from the cold in Gaza as displaced people shelter in tents and rubble
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least six infants have died from hypothermia in the last two weeks in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in tent camps and war-damaged buildings during a fragile ceasefire , Palestinian medics said Tuesday.
Temperatures have plunged in recent days. The coastal territory experiences cold, wet winters , with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) at night and storms blowing in from the Mediterranean Sea.
Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatric department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, told The Associated Press that it received the body of a 2-month-old girl on Tuesday. He said another two infants were treated for frostbite, with one of them discharged later.
Saeed Saleh, of the Patient's Friends Hospital in Gaza City, said five infants aged one month or younger have died from the cold over the last two weeks, including a 1-month-old who died on Monday. He said another child has been placed on a ventilator.
Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry's records department, said it has recorded 15 deaths from hypothermia this winter, all of them children.
The ceasefire that paused 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas militants has allowed a surge in humanitarian aid, mainly food, but residents say there are still shortages of blankets and warm clothing, and little wood available for fires.
There's been no central electricity in Gaza since the first few days of the war, and fuel for generators is scarce. Many families huddle on damp sand or bare concrete.
'It's incredibly cold,' Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for the United Nations children's agency, said earlier this month. 'I have no clue how people can sleep at night in their makeshift tents.'
Israel's military offensive, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack , was among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. It pounded large areas of Gaza into rubble. The hundreds of thousands of people who have been able to return to northern Gaza under the ceasefire have settled wherever they can amid the ruins .
The ceasefire's first phase will end on Saturday and may not be extended . If fighting resumes, the current flow of humanitarian aid is expected to drop dramatically.
Even if the truce endures, it's unclear when anything in Gaza will be rebuilt . The World Bank has estimated the cost of reconstruction at over $50 billion, and it could take years just to clear the rubble.
Israel blames the destruction on Hamas because the militants positioned tunnels, rocket launchers and other military infrastructure in residential areas.
Hamas has accused Israel of delaying the entry of mobile homes and tents in violation of the ceasefire. Israel denies the allegations and accuses Hamas of violating the agreement. Israel held up the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners last weekend to protest Hamas' practice of parading hostages before crowds in public spectacles during their release.
Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250 hostages. Over 60 are still held in Gaza , around half believed to be dead.
Israel's air and ground war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many of those killed were militants. Israel says it killed over 17,000 fighters but has not provided evidence.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo.
___
Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Palestinians say Israeli troops fire on Gazans trying to reach GHF aid hub, with 34 reportedly killed
Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip — At least 34 Palestinians were killed Monday in new shootings near food distribution centers run by a controversial Israeli- and U.S.-backed group in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said. The toll was the deadliest yet in the near-daily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to try to reach the food "hubs" run by the private contractor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Two witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire early Monday in an attempt to control the crowds. There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military. It has said after numerous previous instances that troops had fired warning shots at what it called suspect individuals approaching their positions. Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said 33 Palestinians were killed trying to reach the GHF center near the southern city of Rafah on Monday while another was fatally shot trying to reach a GHF hub in central Gaza. It said four other people were killed elsewhere in the war-torn enclave. Palestinians transport bodies to a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 16, 2025, after Israeli forces allegedly opened fire on Palestinians waiting to access an aid distribution center operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the area. AFP/Getty Two Palestinians trying to get food at the Rafah site, Heba Jouda and Mohammed Abed, told The Associated Press that Israeli forces fired on the crowds at around 4 a.m. at the Flag Roundabout. The traffic circle, hundreds of yards from the GHF center, has repeatedly been the scene of shootings. The military has designated specific routes to access the food centers, and GHF has warned aid-seekers that leaving the roads is dangerous, but many do in an attempt to get to the food first. Israel and the United States say the new GHF system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid. GHF says there has been no violence in or around the sites themselves. The funding for and management of GHF have remained unclear since it began operations in mid-May, but it is staffed by private, well-armed American security contractors. U.N. agencies and major aid groups, which have delivered humanitarian aid across Gaza since the start of the 20-month Israel-Hamas war, have rejected the new system, saying it can't meet the territory's needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon. They deny there is widespread theft of aid by Hamas. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the U.N.'s agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, slammed GHF in a statement on Monday as a "lethal distribution system" and lamented that "tragedies go on unabated" in Gaza "while attention shifts elsewhere," in an apparent reference to the new outbreak of significant fighting between Israel and Iran. Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and senior scientists and commanders late on Thursday, sparking an ongoing exchange of fire that the Israeli military says has killed at least two dozen civilians in the country, and reportedly hundreds in Iran. "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system," Lazzarini said in a social media post. "Restrictions on bringing in aid from the UN including @UNRWA continue despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into Gaza. In addition, severe shortages of fuel are now hampering the delivery of critical services especially health & water. Killings & wars will breed more wars & bloodshed. Civilians will always suffer first & suffer most." Israeli officials have repeatedly accused United Nations aid agencies of failing to collect and distribute food it allows into Gaza, a significant portion of which the Israeli military now controls and warns civilians to avoid due to its ongoing operations. Palestinian health officials say scores of people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the GHF sites opened last month. Experts, including U.N. agency chiefs, have warned that Israel's ongoing military campaign and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians, at risk of famine.
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
UN rights chief urges governments to ‘wake up' to ‘horrifying' suffering in Gaza
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Israel's warfare in Gaza is inflicting 'horrifying, unconscionable suffering' on Palestinians and urged government leaders on Monday to 'wake up' and exert pressure to bring an end to the conflict. 'The facts speak for themselves,' said Volker Türk. 'Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza. All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering.' Türk made the comments at the opening of the latest Human Rights Council session in a broad address that also raised concerns about escalating conflict between Iran and Israel , the fallout from U.S. tariffs , and China's human rights record — alongside wars and conflict in places like Sudan and Ukraine . As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — who has regularly spoken out about bloodshed in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli hostages held by armed Palestinian militants — Türk used some of his most forceful words yet to highlight the Mideast violence . 'Israel's means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza,' he told the 47-member-country body, which Israeli authorities have regularly accused of anti-Israel bias. The Trump administration has kept the United States, Israel's top ally, out of the council proceedings. Israel's military campaign since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in Israel has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says that women and children make up most of the dead, but it does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva responded by accusing Türk and his office of been 'relentless in making irresponsible and uneducated statements regarding Israel's conduct of hostilities — including reliance on information propagated by terrorist organizations.' It called on Türk to 'condemn Hamas's declared strategy to maximize harm to the population in Gaza.' In Brussels, medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders appealed to European Union leaders to use what leverage they have over Israel to end the siege of Gaza. Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear described Gaza as a 'hell on earth,' and said that almost two years of relentless bombardment has turned 'this narrow strip of land into a graveyard of shattered hospitals, mass graves and destroyed neighborhoods.' Aid deliveries organised by the U.N. were cut off in mid-March, and violence has accompanied distributions of food from the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation , which has U.S. and Israeli backing. Beyond the suffering of inflicted on in Gaza, Doctors Without Borders said its international staffers are living often on one meal a day, and some have been admitted to their own facilities for treatment. The EU is the world's biggest donor of aid to the Palestinians but has little real leverage over Israel. The bloc's 27 member states are divided in their approach to the conflict, although concern over the plight of Gazans has grown as the siege has dragged on. In his speech, Türk also bemoaned an increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine, nearly 3 1/2 years after Russia's full-scale invasion. He denounced executions without a fair trial and 'wide-scale sexual violence, including against children' in Sudan. Without mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump by name, Türk likened the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in April to 'a high-stakes poker game, with the global economy as the bank.' 'But the shockwaves of a trade war will hit least developed countries with the force of a tsunami,' he said, warning of a potentially 'devastating' impact on exporters in Asia, and the prospect of higher costs for food, healthcare and education in places. Türk expressed concerns about U.S. deportations of non-nationals, including to third countries, and called on authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly . The council session, which has been shortened by 2 1/2 days because of funding issues at the U.N., is set to run through July 9. The Geneva-based council is the U.N.'s top human rights body. ___ Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
At least 38 Palestinians killed in shootings near food distribution centres
At least 38 Palestinians were shot dead on Monday in areas near food distribution centres in the south of the Gaza Strip, the local health ministry said. The toll was the deadliest yet in the near-daily shootings that have taken place as thousands of Palestinians move through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach the food centres run by the private contractor, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Two witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire early on Monday in an attempt to control the crowds. There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military. It has said in previous instances that troops fired warning shots at what it calls suspects approaching their positions. Gaza's health ministry said most of the dead were trying to reach the GHF centre near the southern city of Rafah, though a few were on the roads to a newly opened hub on the outskirts of the nearby city of Khan Younis. Two Palestinians trying to get food at the Rafah site, Heba Jouda and Mohammed Abed, told the Associated Press that Israeli forces fired on the crowds at about 4am at the flag roundabout. The roundabout, hundreds of metres from the GHF centre, has repeatedly been the scene of shootings. The military has designated specific routes to access the food centres, and GHF has warned aid-seekers that leaving the roads is dangerous, but many do in an attempt to get to the food first. Israel and the United States say the new GHF system is needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid. GHF says there has been no violence in or around the sites themselves. UN agencies and major aid groups, which have delivered humanitarian aid across Gaza since the start of the 20-month Israel-Hamas war, have rejected the new system, saying it cannot meet the territory's needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon. They deny there is widespread theft of aid by Hamas. Palestinian health officials say scores of people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the sites opened last month. Experts have warned that Israel's ongoing military campaign and restrictions on the entry of aid have put Gaza, which is home to some 2.0 million Palestinians, at risk of famine.
