Many people in Gaza lack adequate shelter and are malnourished after more than a year of Israeli attacks and blockades.
A Palestinian health worker has died due to “extreme” weather conditions and a severe cold, according to a statement from the enclave’s health ministry makes the distress worse confronted with people displaced by Israel’s relentless attacks.
The body of Al-Hakim Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who worked at the European Gaza Hospital, was found in his tent in the al-Mawasi area, west of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, the ministry said on Friday.
“This incident comes against the backdrop of the difficult humanitarian conditions suffered by displaced citizens, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and lack of heating facilities in tents,” the ministry said.
The ministry previously said four Palestinian babies had died in tents in recent days amid the cold weather and widespread malnutrition.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the number of victims in vulnerable groups was increasing due to worsening weather conditions.
“For 14 months, people here have been lacking the bare essentials to survive in these difficult conditions – even in summer,” he said.
“Now in winter, the temperature has dropped very low and people in tent camps perceive the cold as (colder) than it actually is.”
He said mothers often lack the strength or ability to breastfeed because they are malnourished and unwell.
“Conditions are worse for vulnerable groups such as babies and without (humanitarian assistance) it is natural that deaths will occur.”
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since war with the Palestinian group Hamas broke out on October 7, 2023. Many people live in tents that offer little protection from cold, rain and floods.
The United Nations and other organizations have repeatedly denounced worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza as Israeli attacks and blockades significantly limit access to food, water, medicine and other supplies.
A leading U.S. government organization that monitors food crises around the world this week retracted a new report warning of them impending famine in northern Gaza under what Israel called a “near-total blockade” after the U.S. asked for it to be withdrawn, U.S. officials told The Associated Press.
The move follows public criticism of the US ambassador to Israel’s report.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report had warned that a “famine scenario” was emerging in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel launched a renewed offensive in early October.
Meanwhile, the director of Gaza’s Health Ministry told Al Jazeera on Friday that Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few remaining medical facilities in northern Gaza, and ordered the 350 people there, including all patients and staff, to evacuate would have forced. He said contact with the hospital was lost.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 45,436 Palestinians and injured 108,038 since October 7, 2023.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 captured in Israel’s Hamas-led attacks that day.
