The twin toddlers who perished in a temporary tent settlement in Deir al-Balah just one day apart are the youngest casualties of Gaza’s severe winter storms to date. Their passing adds to the seven youngsters who have died from hypothermia in the last week, underscoring the dire circumstances that more than a million Palestinians who have been displaced must endure.
One-month-old Jumaa al-Batran passed away on Monday, following her twin brother Ali who died at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital just 24 hours earlier. Their grieving father described finding his daughter’s body “frozen like ice” in their family’s tent, which offered little protection against the bitter cold and driving rain.
When the twins’ father, Ahmad al-Batran, described the tragedy, his voice broke. “I tried to warm her tiny body, but it was too late,” he said. “No parent should have to watch their children die from something as basic as staying warm.”
Medical workers at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where Ali was pronounced dead on Sunday, said both babies died of extreme hypothermia. Dr. Khalil Rahman treated Ali and was frustrated by the deaths he feels could have been so easily prevented. “These babies needed nothing more than warmth and shelter – the most fundamental human needs that are being denied to our people.”
The al-Batran family is among hundreds of thousands who, since October, have been uprooted multiple times-from fleeing into their home to finding temporary shelter in a simplistic tent camp in central Gaza. What happened to them symbolizes something greater: the growing humanitarian crisis in this enclave as families grow increasingly desperate, with very limited means, to shelter their children.
Aid workers warn the situation is growing ever more desperate as continued winter storms pummel the region. “We’re seeing families huddled under plastic sheeting, children wearing the same wet clothes for days, and parents burning whatever they can find just to provide a little warmth,” said local relief coordinator Sara Hamadan.
More rain expected
Humanitarian organizations warn, quoting the forecast for more storms, that the current level of aid is disproportionately inadequate to meet even the most basic survival needs for humans. Supplies for blankets, winter clothes, and weatherproof shelters in all of Gaza’s displacement camps remain very, very low.
“Every raindrop, every gust of wind becomes a threat to survival,” explained Dr. Nasser Abu Salim, a pediatrician working in central Gaza. “The conditions these families are enduring would be challenging for healthy adults – for infants and young children, they can be fatal.”
There have been appeals for more humanitarian access to Gaza in the wake of the deaths of the al-Batran twins and five other newborns in recent days. Aid agencies stress that additional lives, especially those of small children and the elderly, are at risk if prompt action is not taken to improve shelter conditions and supply enough winter supplies.
The sound of winter winds tearing through tent flaps as night sets in Deir al-Balah is a chilling reminder of the unstable life that the displaced people of Gaza must lead. Families like the al-Batrans continue to live in circumstances that no parent should have to deal with, and every chilly night raises new concerns for the safety of their surviving children.
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