The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing the Gaza Ministry of Health, announced the death of another child due to hypothermia. This brings the total number of cold-related deaths this season to nine.
OCHA reiterated its call for urgent solutions, including allowing the entry of batteries, solar panels, and other energy sources needed to establish communal heating facilities.
The office reported that food security partners have reached more than 860,000 people so far this month by distributing food parcels through 50 distribution points across the Gaza Strip. The UN also continues to provide approximately 1.6 million hot meals daily to those in need.
The World Health Organization (WHO) called on more member states to accept these patients and reopen the medical evacuation route to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
OCHA noted that most of Gaza’s population remains displaced, with an estimated 1.3 million people scattered across 970 locations throughout the Gaza Strip, mostly in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) partners have warned that approximately 70% of Gaza City’s total water production is currently disrupted due to challenges related to repairing the Mekorot water pipeline. This pipeline runs from Israel to Gaza and lies east of the so-called “yellow lineق,” where Israeli forces remain deployed.
