UN 'deeply concerned' over babies freezing to death from cold weather in Gaza

The UN on Monday expressed grave concern after the death of a one-month-old baby in Gaza due to hypothermia, marking the eighth such fatality in less than three weeks.

"Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is deeply concerned by reports that a one-month-old baby has died in the Gaza Strip due to hypothermia, according to the Ministry of Health. This is the eighth such child death due to the cold in less than three weeks," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

Stating that such deaths are "preventable" if aid reached to families in Gaza," Dujarric said Israel's ongoing hostilities in Gaza have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, with daily reports of civilian casualties and massive displacement.

Recalling Israeli shelling of UN school-turned-shelter over the weekend, he stressed that "civilians and civilian infrastructure-including humanitarian workers, convoys and assets-must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law."

He also recalled Israeli authorities' continued constraints to aid access to besieged areas of North Gaza, and said: "Three UN attempts to reach these areas over the past three days, Saturday, Sunday and today, were denied."

"Across the Gaza Strip over the weekend, 37 UN-led humanitarian missions were planned. 12 of these missions were facilitated, but 15 others were denied outright, nine were impeded, and one was cancelled due to logistical and operational constraints," Dujarric noted.

He further stated that armed looting of humanitarian aid convoys continues in southern and central Gaza, and said: "Yesterday, eight fuel trucks were seized, two of which have since been recovered."

"Once again, we stress that to stop the looting of humanitarian supplies, Israel must facilitate the flow of aid, fuel and commercial goods into and within Gaza swiftly and at scale through multiple entry points," he said, and called for the restoration of public order to safeguard aid operations.

Asked whether the UN received an explanation from Israel about its attack on World Food Program (WFP) convoy near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on Sunday, Dujarric said: "I don't think there's an explanation for shooting at a clearly marked convoy from the World Food Program, whose movement, or maybe whose movements, had been completely coordinated with the Israeli security forces."

Israel's ongoing war on the enclave has forced nearly 2 million of Gaza's 2.3 million residents to flee in dire conditions and live in tents or shelters amid severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies.

The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed almost 46,000 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.