A three-month-old Palestinian baby has tragically died from hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, highlighting the dire humanitarian conditions in the territory as world leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan is high on the agenda.
Shaza Abu Jarad’s family found the infant unresponsive in their tent in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City on Tuesday morning. “She was freezing, and dead,” the baby’s father, Mohamed Abu Jarad, told The Associated Press. “She died from cold.” The family took Shaza to the Al-Ahly hospital, where she was pronounced dead due to hypothermia, according to her uncle, Khalid Abu Jarad. The Health Ministry confirmed the cause of death.
The Abu Jarad family is among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in makeshift tents and war-damaged buildings in Gaza, which experiences cold, wet winters with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) at night. The baby’s tragic death is the ninth child to succumb to the severe cold this winter in the impoverished enclave, according to the Health Ministry.
As Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory languish in displacement camps, Trump hopes to establish his new “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The initiative, initially conceived to oversee the Gaza ceasefire, faces questions over its membership and scope, with some countries, such as France, indicating they do not plan to join the board “at this stage.”
The ceasefire paused two years of war between Israel and Hamas militants and allowed a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, mainly food. However, residents say shortages of blankets and warm clothes remain, and there is little wood for fires. With no central electricity since the start of the war in 2023 and scarce fuel for generators, the harsh winter conditions have proven deadly for the most vulnerable.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that the recent biting cold and rainfall in Gaza are “ultimately a threat to survival” for the population. As the world grapples with Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace,” the tragic death of baby Shaza serves as a sobering reminder of the urgent humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
