A baby girl died in southern Gaza on Thursday as a result of the severe cold brought on by Storm Byron, Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital said, and another Palestinian was reportedly killed by a collapsing wall, as heavy rain flooded the tents of Palestinians displaced by the war with Israel.

The deceased infant was identified as Rahaf Abu Jazar, aged 8 months. According to Arabic media, she died in a displaced people’s tent in the coastal Mawasi area near Khan Younis, where her family had fled from Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.

It was the first weather-related death reported in Gaza this winter season. At least eight newborns died of hypothermia last winter, according to the United Nations.

Footage from Nasser Hospital showed Abu Jazar’s father, Ahmed, speaking to reporters while clutching her prone body, surrounded by grieving relatives.

The family’s tent was drenched with rain and sewage when Rahaf died, Ahmed said. “The cold killed her,” he said. “Nobody’s talking about the children. They’re dying one by one.”

Weeping and holding Rahaf in her hands, her mother, Hejar, said she had fed the girl before they went to sleep.

“When we woke up, we found the rain over her and the wind on her, and the girl died of cold suddenly,” she told Reuters. “There was nothing wrong with her.”

???? وفاة الرضيعة رهف أبو جزر (8 أشهر) من شدة البرد في خان يونس، نتيجة إبقاء النازحين داخل خيام هشة بعد منع الاحتلال دخول الكرافانات pic.twitter.com/7Zw894EDcq

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online)

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