SECOND GAZA INFANT DIED DUE TO FREEZING WEATHER

Gaza, 19 Rabiul Awwal 1436/10 January 2015 (MINA)– A newborn baby died in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday due to freezing weather, the second child to perish as a result of Storm Huda in the tiny coastal enclave.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma’an that a month-old infant named Adil Mahir al-Lahham died in his family’s home in western Khan Younis.

The cause of death, al-Qidra said, was the extreme cold pounding Gaza as a result of the storm, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Adil’s death was the second in two days.

On Friday, a two-month-old baby girl died in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a result of the severely cold weather affecting the region.

Her family was living in a home that was partially destroyed by Israel during bombardment over the summer.

Nearly 110,000 Palestinians were left homeless by Israel’s summer offensive, which left 2,200 dead as well.

Due to the eight-year-old Israeli siege on Gaza, the vast majority of those displaced by the war have been unable to rebuild and many are left living in mobile homes or other substandard forms of housing.

The situation is aggravated by the lack of fuel for electric power, meaning that power is available roughly eight hours a day, with occasional cuts on top of that.

The lack of fuel is also result of the Israeli siege, which limits Palestinians’ ability to import fuel for the electric power station in Gaza as well as for domestic needs like heating.

In the four days since Storm Huda landed in the Holy Land, scores of families in Gaza have been evacuated from their homes due to flooding. (T/P010/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)