AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Winter has hit Gaza hard. At night, temperatures dip into the 40s. Most of Gaza's 2 million residents have been displaced by nearly 15 months of war, and they're living in makeshift encampments. So the cold weather has been devastating. At least five infants have died this week of hypothermia, according to Palestinian health officials. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: In Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Central Gaza, Yehia al-Baltran is distraught. He rushed his infant son here after waking up at 3 a.m. only to find him and his twin brother cold and unresponsive.
YEHIA AL-BALTRAN: (Speaking Arabic).
KAHN: "I grabbed the boy. His face was frozen, white, exactly like snow - completely frozen," he says. He got to the hospital, but it was too late. Jumaa, just 42 days old, had died. Ali, his twin, remains in an ICU incubator.
FAHAD AL-HADDAD: Our children are exhausted, sick, suffering of cold, fear and diseases.
KAHN: That's Al-Aqsa's emergency room head doctor, Fahad al-Haddad. He speaks to NPR's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba.
AL-HADDAD: It's very bad, and I think it will get worse.
KAHN: The baby's father, al-Baltran, says he tried everything he could to keep his infant son warm.
Y AL-BALTRAN: (Speaking Arabic).
KAHN: Exhausted and distraught, he cries out, "I swear, my child, I did all I can for you. I begged for blankets." The family lives in one of the thousands of makeshift encampments erected along Gaza's windswept coast. The walls of their tent are made of worn sheets and blankets. The wind rips right through them, says the family of eight's mother, Noora al-Baltran.
NOORA AL-BALTRAN: (Speaking Arabic).
KAHN: "These are children, kids, and they turn blue," she tells producer Anas Baba. She shows him outside the tent, where, over a small fire, she's boiling water to fill plastic bottles. She puts them next to her children to keep them warm. But she says she's always worried they might open and burn them. International agencies say they can't get essential winter protection into families in Gaza, and they blame Israel for restricting shipments. Israel blames Hamas militants for stealing and blocking supplies and says it's improving its aid distribution. UNICEF spokesman Joe English says he's not seeing any improvements.
JOE ENGLISH: If we had, you know, all of the border crossings open, if we had the safety and security to allow us to reach children and families in every part of the Gaza Strip, wherever they are in need. So no. That's the honest answer - is we're not seeing enough because children are still dying.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Crying).
KAHN: Back at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Dr. Fahad al-Haddad worries for Gaza's children.
AL-HADDAD: They are angels who are - should be walking on cloud. They are suffering.
KAHN: More rain and strong winds are forecast for this week. With producer Anas Baba in Gaza, I'm Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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