An elderly Palestinian woman died early Monday morning as freezing temperatures and winter storms tightened their grip across Gaza.

Winter spares no one

Local sources reported that Zainab Muhammad Awad Musbah, 63, was found frozen outside of her tent in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.

Makeshift encampments dot the southern area, where thousands of displaced families endure unbearably harsh conditions with limited access to heating and basic necessities.

Winter deaths are rising rapidly in Gaza and Musbah’s tragic death is unlikely to be the last. According to figures from the Gaza-based health ministry, Musbah is the eleventh person to die from harsh weather conditions this year.

Infant mortalities

Two days earlier, six-month-old Yousef Abu Hammad met a similar fate, with extreme cold and dehydration cited as the cause of death. He was the first son in a family of six sisters. His father, Omar Abu Hammad, called him a miracle after 17 years of trying for a son.

The tragedy doesn’t end there. On 17 January, multiple news agencies, including the Canary, reported the death of a 27-day-old Aisha Ayesh al-Agha. By the time the newborn was brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, it was already too late to save her.

Aisha is the eighth child whose life has been cut short by hypothermia according Gaza’s health ministry. Commenting on the desperate situation, and rising death toll, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, rued that the:

Winter keeps compounding the misery of people in the Gaza Strip

How many more must die?

It appears that the elderly and youth are bearing the brunt.

The rising death toll from freezing winter temperatures also coincides with the ongoing fall out of Israel’s assault on Gaza. As a result, the ensuing collapse of infrastructure is pushing displaced Palestinians into camps. These uninhabitable camps, where entire families reside, resemble shantytowns.

Organisations on the frontlines are urging the international community to take immediate action by providing winter relief supplies and reopening the crossings to prevent further loss of civilian life in Gaza.

With winter showing no signs of easing, the situation for families who have survived the war is becoming increasingly dire. How many more must die before the world is compelled to act?

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

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