Israel has continued to launch attacks on Gaza’s hospitals while temperatures drop [Getty]
Israel has continued to attack Gaza hospitals a day after bombardment killed 30 Palestinians while Gaza’s government media office has raised concerns over harsh weather as a sixth baby has died from hypothermia.
Overnight and early on Monday, Israeli forces the al-Wafaa Hospital where at least seven were killed and the al-Ahli hospital.
Gaza civil defence crews and witnesses confirmed many were critically wounded in the attacks while others said bodies were ripped apart in the shelling.
After north Gaza’s biggest hospital, Kamal Adwan, was shuttered following incessant Israeli attacks and raids, there are now few healthcare facilities in the north leaving people even more vulnerable.
The World Health Organisation chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called on Israel to “ensure healthcare needs and rights are upheld” and said hospitals in the Strip “have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat”.
The attacks on hospitals coincide with a recent report from the Euro-Med human rights monitor which states Palestinian survivors from Israel’s raids on the Kamal Adwan Hospital detailed “harrowing testimonies” of “deliberate killings, field executions as well as sexual and physical assaults on women and girls”
The rights monitor added that testimonies state Israeli soldiers forced girls and women to strip from their clothes under verbal abuse.
Freezing temperatures have also hit the Strip, bringing further misery to the population, most of which has been forcibly displaced from their homes since Israel launched its war on the Strip.
Gaza’s government media office released a statement on Monday warning that the number of displaced people dying from the cold will likely increase as temperatures drop.
“Heavy rainfall is expected to continue, along with persistent frost waves and winter cold in the coming days, posing a significant and real threat to the lives of displaced individuals who suffer immensely due to the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation” the statement reads.
According to Al Jazeera Arabic journalists on the ground, many displacement tents have been flooded in Deir al-Balah and in southern Khan Younis.
The forecast is expected to worsen in the coming days, with Palestinians having little access to adequate shelter or clothing. Gaza’s government media office estimates that around 110,000 tents being used for shelter are worn out and not sufficient for usage or protection against the cold.
The official Palestinian Wafa news agency said at least six infants have died from the cold in the space of one week, with the latest being the twin of a baby who died yesterday.
The infant has been identified as one-month-old Ali al-Batran who was in Deir al-Balah.
According to medical sources on the ground, food insecurity among mothers and children is exacerbating the health situation.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,484 Palestinians and wounded over 108,090 others since 7 October 2023. The war on the enclave has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.
