Gaza baby dies from exposure to cold as WHO warns of rising infection rates

A nine-month-old baby has become the first victim of falling temperatures in Gaza as winter sets in, the local health authority said on Friday.

Kinan Ahmed Arqiq was declared dead on arrival at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis after being transferred from the Kuwaiti Hospital on Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a post on Telegram. A forensic examination confirmed that the death was caused by severe hypothermia.

The infant's death underlines mounting global concern over the lack of adequate shelter, clothing and medical supplies to protect Gazans from the winter cold and rains.

Five people, including three children, were killed when a sand bank collapsed on to tents in central Gaza on November 7 following heavy rain that also flooded tens of thousands of tents in displacement camps.

Most of Gaza's more than two million people are living in makeshift shelters after two years of heavy Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive destroyed homes and infrastructure across vast swathes of the Palestinian territory.

On Thursday, a group of 53 UN member states and other organisations urged Israel’s incoming government to lift restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza.

The appeal, issued at the UN in New York and led by Britain, Qatar and Jordan, called for aid to enter through all available crossings and land routes, and for humanitarian corridors through Egypt and Jordan to operate fully and predictably.

Britain’s ambassador Sarah MacIntosh, who spoke on behalf of the co-signatories of the Gaza Call to Action on Humanitarian Access and Health, said constraints on the entry of critical shelter items and other life-saving supplies continued to prevent humanitarian organisations from responding at the scale required.

She warned that people without adequate shelter faced hypothermia, respiratory infections, waterborne diseases and other preventable illnesses.

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Heavy rain worsens conditions for displaced families in Gaza

According to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, about 1.4 million people, or 65 per cent of Gaza's population, are living in tents or temporary shelters.

The World Health Organisation warned on Friday of a surge in respiratory ​illnesses ​in the territory, ​with worse expected following the recent heavy rain.

“The numbers ⁠already show the pressure. Acute respiratory infections ​are 33,000 cases higher than at the same time last year,” Dr Reinhilde Van ⁠De Weerdt, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told reporters in Geneva from Jerusalem.

Poor living conditions and severe overcrowding are driving up infections as Gaza's population is squeezed into ⁠an ever-smaller area, the WHO said.

The situation has worsened as the Israeli military ​expands its ⁠control by advancing the “yellow line” – ‌a demarcation established under October’s US-brokered ceasefire that ended two years of all-out war in the territory between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

That means people are living in more ​crowded conditions, where viruses are more likely to spread, Ms Van De Weerdt said.

Last week Cogat, the Israeli military agency that co-ordinates aid, said it had stepped up efforts to improve sanitary conditions before the heavy rain, working with international organisations.

It is shocking that just a few days of rain really showed us what the coming months will bring. And winter ​has not even fully set in

Dr Reinhilde Van ⁠De Weerdt

,
WHO representative

Respiratory infections currently make up 11 per cent of all medical consultations, with the WHO expecting cold weather, flooding, overcrowded shelters and poor ventilation to push the numbers higher.

“It is shocking that just a few days of rain really showed us what the coming months will bring. And winter ​has not even fully set in. The worst really is ‌yet to come,” Ms Van De ⁠Weerdt said.

Nearly a million displaced people in ​Gaza live in flood-exposed areas, and 400,000 of them are in ​locations ‌considered to be at extremely high risk, according to the WHO.

The agency said flooding heightened ⁠the risk of contaminated water, while standing water gave mosquitoes and pests ⁠more places to breed. Dampness encourages mould and bacteria that are major drivers for respiratory infections, especially in young children, it said.

The WHO is particularly struggling to get laboratory supplies, which it says are vital for diagnosing patients before they can be treated.