Gaza Herald_ Inside a fragile tent in southern Gaza, 34-year-old Eman Abu al-Khair sits in silence, holding a small bag containing her newborn’s clothes. Her baby, Mohammed, lived for only 14 days before dying from extreme cold, another victim of Gaza’s deepening humanitarian catastrophe.
Eman is still struggling to comprehend the loss. Displaced by Israel’s ongoing assault, she says she did everything she could to keep her baby warm, but the conditions inside the tent made survival impossible.
She recalls the sound of Mohammed’s cries at night, a memory that continues to haunt her. Sleep now comes with disbelief, as she grapples with the sudden absence of a life that barely had a chance to begin.
A Night of Cold, Rain, and Helplessness
The family had been living in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, after being forced to flee their home in eastern Khan Younis. On the night of December 13, temperatures dropped sharply as rain poured over the displacement area.
When Eman checked on her baby later that night, she found him barely breathing. His body was icy cold, his hands and feet stiff, and his skin pale and yellowing. With no adequate shelter, heating, or clothing for a newborn, Mohammed had been exposed to lethal cold.
Eman woke her husband, Khalil, immediately. They tried desperately to reach a hospital, but there was no transportation available. Flooded roads, heavy rain, and the absence of emergency services left them trapped. Even walking was impossible.
With no other option, the family waited until morning.
A Race Against Time Lost
At first light, the family transported Mohammed by an animal-drawn cart to the Red Crescent Hospital in Khan Younis. By the time they arrived, his condition had already deteriorated beyond recovery.
Medical staff rushed the infant into the pediatric intensive care unit. His face had turned blue, and his body convulsed as doctors placed him on a ventilator. Despite two days of intensive treatment, Mohammed died on December 15.
Doctors confirmed that the baby had no underlying medical conditions. His death was caused solely by acute hypothermia. His fragile body could not withstand the freezing temperatures inside the tent.
A Growing Pattern of Preventable Deaths
Gaza’s Ministry of Health later confirmed Mohammed’s death, identifying him as a two-week-old infant who died due to a severe drop in body temperature amid harsh displacement conditions.
His death raised the number of children who have died from cold-related causes in Gaza this month to four. Health officials warn that more deaths are likely as winter intensifies and families remain without adequate shelter.
According to medical authorities, displacement tents soaked by rain and filled with standing water create ideal conditions for respiratory illnesses, especially among infants, the elderly, and the sick, groups already cut off from proper healthcare.
From Celebration to Burial
Mohammed was born on December 1, welcomed with joy after a difficult pregnancy marked by hunger, exhaustion, and war. Eman says all the suffering faded the moment she saw her baby healthy and alive.
That happiness lasted just two weeks.
Despite wrapping Mohammed in every blanket and piece of clothing she had, and despite his father’s attempts to seal the tent against the cold, nothing could stop the freezing air from entering.
Water seeped under their bedding each morning. The thin nylon walls offered no insulation. Survival became a matter of chance.
A Family Left Behind
Mohammed was the second child of Eman and Khalil. Their first, two-year-old Mona, has known nothing but war. After returning from the burial, Mona repeatedly asked where her baby brother had gone.
Each question reopened the wound.
Eman wonders what crime her child committed to deserve such a fate. She says children in Gaza are dying in every way imaginable, bombings, sniper fire, hunger, disease, and now cold.
Her grief is compounded by fear. She now spends nights awake, constantly checking on Mona, covering her with layers of clothing, terrified of losing another child.
A Crisis Without Relief
Despite the announcement of a ceasefire months earlier, Gaza remains largely in ruins. Most residential buildings have been destroyed, and meaningful reconstruction has yet to begin.
Israeli restrictions continue to block the entry of adequate shelter materials, housing units, and infrastructure needed to protect displaced families from winter conditions. As a result, the circumstances that led to Mohammed’s death persist.
Health officials warn that without urgent intervention, more children will die,not from illness, but from exposure.
“This Is Not a Life”
Eman describes life in displacement as unbearable. She says families are not asking for luxury, only safety, warmth, and dignity.
She questions the absence of temporary housing units and caravans, and the lack of meaningful action to protect Gaza’s most vulnerable.
“This is not a life,” she says. “We just want our children to live with dignity.”
For families like the Abu al-Khairs, winter in Gaza has become another front in a war where even newborns are not spared.
