Health worker displaced by Israeli attacks in Gaza dies of ‘extreme cold’
Al JazeeraMany people in Gaza lack adequate shelter and are malnourished after more than a year of Israeli attacks and blockades. A Palestinian healthcare worker has died due to “extreme” weather conditions, according to a statement by the enclave’s Ministry of Health, as severe cold compounds the hardship faced by people displaced by Israel’s relentless attacks. “The conditions are worse for vulnerable groups like babies and, in the absence of, it is natural that deaths will happen.” The vast majority of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since war broke out with the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, with many people living in tents that offer little protection from the cold, rain and flooding. A leading United States government organisation monitoring food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel’s “near-total blockade,” after the US asked for its retraction, US officials told The Associated Press. Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 45,436 Palestinians and wounded 108,038 since October 7, 2023, according to figures released on Friday by Gaza’s Health Ministry.