In Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes are sheltering in tents, the temperatures are expected to drop further in the coming days.
Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, reported in a statement on Friday that, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, four newborns and infants died in recent days from hypothermia.
“These preventable deaths lay bare the desperate and deteriorating conditions facing families and children across Gaza,” said Mr. Beigbeder.
Over 90% of Gaza’s population is facing crisis levels of hunger.
“With temperatures expected to drop further in the coming days, it is tragically foreseeable that more children’s lives will be lost to the inhumane conditions they are enduring”.
The senior official underlined the fact that, beyond the constant threat of attacks, many in Gaza are living without nutrition, or healthcare. Their makeshift shelters, he said, offer no protection from the freezing weather.
Humanitarian aid blocked
UNICEF and other UN agencies have frequently reported that, far too often, aid convoys are not being given permission to enter the Gaza Strip and deliver supplies to those in need.
Mr. Beigbeder noted that, in November, an average of 65 truckloads of assistance entered the enclave daily, far too little to adequately address the urgent needs of children, women and other civilians.
WFP food assistance is a lifeline for children and families in Gaza.
He called for all access crossings to be opened, as did the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN emergency food relief agency in a social media post on Friday.
WFP declared that it has only been able to bring in about a third of the food needed to support people in Gaza, and that “hunger is everywhere”.
Journalist killing condemned
The UN Human Rights Office has condemned the killing of five journalists by Israeli forces on Thursday.
In a social media post published on Friday, the Office noted that the journalists were unarmed, and clearly identified as members of the press, when their van was hit by an airstrike in the vicinity of the Al Awda hospital in Gaza.
The Israeli military claim that the journalists were affiliated with Palestinian armed groups does not remove their protection as civilians, declared the Office, reiterating that urgent measures are needed to protect all civilians, including journalists, in Gaza.
The Office is calling for a thorough and impartial investigation into the killings.
