Displaced Palestinians in Gaza battle the winter cold

Displaced Palestinians in Gaza battle the winter cold

Barefoot in the mud and with an empty container in her hand, Palestinian Alaa Al-Shawish stands at a crowded water station in the central city Gaza. She is afraid of winter and looks for clean water for her family. After massive Israeli bombing, her family was forced out of Gaza City and now lives in an improvised tent in Deir Al-Balah. But their new home harbors life-threatening dangers.

Shocking situations in winter

“We are dying of the cold, this is not life - I pray every day that we die to be released from this life,” says Alaa, fighting back tears. “No food, no water, no life.” In recent days, several Palestinians, including at least five babies, have died due to the extreme cold. The UN Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA) warned on Tuesday that “more babies are likely to die.”

Cold deaths among children

The babies that come on Hypothermia Those who died were all younger than a month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A 2-year-old boy also died from the cold in recent days, health officials said.

“I watch my children die in front of my eyes,” said Yahya Al-Batran, the father of 20-day-old Jumaa, who died on Sunday. “He died of the cold, he froze to death,” he adds as he holds his child’s lifeless body in the hospital.

The dangers of extreme cold

The cold didn't just claim the lives of children. On Friday, a nurse was found dead in his tent in Al-Mawasi, also due to the extreme cold. Temperatures in Gaza can drop to as low as 10 degrees Celsius (50°F), accompanied by wind and rain.

Flooded emergency shelters

The winter has also brought heavy rains, which in recent days have flooded tents housing displaced Palestinians. The Gaza Civil Defense Authority said it received hundreds of distress calls on Monday and Tuesday from displaced Palestinian families whose tents were flooded in Al-Mawasi, Rafah, Deir Al-Balah and central Gaza City.

In footage obtained by CNN in Deir Al-Balah on Tuesday, water can be seen pooling in the streets between tents as children and adults shovel the mud. Mattresses, carpets and clothing are soaked inside wet tents made of fabric and nylon.

Due to the heavy rains, more than 100 tents in Khan Younis were severely damaged, UNRWA reported on Tuesday. “The displaced people, already living in the intolerable conditions of war, are now also battling heavy rains,” UNRWA added.

Urgent need for relief supplies

UNRWA calls on Israel to facilitate the delivery of winter relief supplies to Gaza. “Blankets, mattresses and warm clothing are waiting outside Gaza for approval to be allowed in,” UNRWA noted on Tuesday. “More and regular humanitarian aid must reach Gaza so that people can stay warm this winter.”

Chris Abu Amra is one of the civilians suffering from the cold and lack of aid in Gaza. He reports that his family is “fighting for survival” in their makeshift tent in Deir Al-Balah. “We are suffering from the rain, we were flooded,” he says. "I have three children who are freezing at night because of this weather. They need clothes, they need tents, proper tents for us to live in."

Nadeen Ebrahim and Abeer Salman contributed to this report from CNN.