In Gaza, winter kills quietly. Babies shiver, stop breathing, and die in tents too cold to survive. These deaths are not accidents; they are preventable tragedies unfolding in slow motion.
IN Gaza, winter has turned deadly. Cold winds slip through fragile tents, pierce to the bone, and silently claim the lives of the most vulnerable. Infants, unable to protect themselves, suffer the most.
The Ministry of Health reports that at least seven babies have already died from cold exposure this season. Thousands more remain trapped in tents without heating or enough food.
The deaths of Gaza’s babies are the direct result of displacement, poverty, hunger, and makeshift shelters; all caused by the ongoing Israeli blockade.
This is what a baby feels as they die from the cold.
Phase One: The Body’s Last Fight
When the body first feels the cold, it fights back. Shivering begins. Blood vessels in the hands and feet constrict to preserve heat for vital organs. Movement becomes clumsy. Coordination fails.
For infants, especially newborns, this phase is extremely short. Medical research shows that babies lose heat far faster than adults due to their body composition, thin skin, and limited ability to regulate temperature. In Gaza’s tents, where cold air and moisture penetrate easily, this early stage can pass quickly.
Even mild hypothermia triggers numbness and confusion. In a tent exposed to sea winds, wet and cold, this stage can last only minutes for a fragile newborn.
Phase Two: Heat Production Fails
As core body temperature continues to fall, the body’s defenses begin to collapse. Shivering weakens and may stop entirely, signaling that the body can no longer generate heat. Heart rate and breathing slow. Consciousness becomes impaired.
Speaking to QNN, Dr. Hatem Dhaheer, Head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nasser Hospital, explained why infants are especially vulnerable at this stage.
“Most of the infants who die suddenly from cold are premature babies or those weighing less than 2.5 kilograms,” he said. “Their bodies are extremely fragile, and even a small drop in temperature can have catastrophic consequences.”
Dr. Dhaheer said that when an infant’s body temperature falls below 33 degrees Celsius, survival becomes unlikely.
“At this level, hypothermia causes bleeding in the brain and sometimes the lungs,” he explained. “It also triggers a severe drop in heart rate, and within hours the body stops responding, even to mechanical ventilation.”
Phase Three: Organ Failure and Death
As body temperature drops further, vital organs begin to fail. Medical literature shows that at severe levels of hypothermia, heart rhythm becomes irregular, breathing slows dangerously, and brain activity declines. Without intervention, death follows.
Many of the infants who died had recently been discharged from neonatal incubators. According to Dr. Dhaheer, they left the hospital in relatively stable condition but were returned to environments that could not keep them warm.
“They left the hospital in relatively good condition,” he said. “But they were returned to environments that were neither suitable nor warm, tents exposed to sea winds. Tragically, they died shortly afterward.”
He recalled one premature infant who had spent a month in an incubator and reached 1.8 kilograms at discharge. Two weeks later, she was brought back to the hospital dead from cold exposure.
“Each of these deaths is more than a number,” Dr. Dhaheer said. “They are tiny lives with families clinging to hope. When these children are sent back to tents, it is a struggle no infant should have to face.”
Babies at the Highest Risk
According to Zaher Al-Wahedi, Director of the Health Information Department at Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least seven children have died from extreme cold exposure this season.
“Children are the most exposed to death from cold,” Al-Wahedi told QNN, particularly those born prematurely or with low birth weight.
Medical experts note that newborns lose heat far more quickly than adults. In stable environments, this risk can be managed through warmth, nutrition, and medical care. In Gaza’s displacement camps and as Israel continues to besiege the strip, these protections do not exist.
“Most of the population is living in tents,” Al-Wahedi said. “The wind cuts through them, rain soaks them, and the smallest children are left almost completely unshielded.”
Skin-to-skin contact with mothers can reduce heat loss, but health officials say it is often insufficient. Chronic food shortages have weakened maternal health, increasing premature births and leaving newborns even more fragile.
Al-Wahedi noted that no adult deaths from cold were recorded during this period. The victims are overwhelmingly babies. — QNN
