An eight-month-old baby girl, Rahaf Abu Jazar, has tragically died from exposure to the cold during Storm Byron, which battered the Gaza Strip with heavy rainfall and strong winds. Her family, displaced and sheltering in a tent camp in Khan Younis, was unable to protect her from the flooding that swept through the enclave.

According to her mother, Hejar Abu Jazar, the baby was fed before the family went to sleep, but by morning, the heavy rain had soaked the tent, and Rahaf succumbed to the cold overnight.

“When we woke up, we found the rain over her and the wind on her, and the girl died of cold suddenly,” she said to Reuters.

Humanitarian Crisis Exacerbated by Aid Restrictions

Gaza’s civil defense agency reported a surge in emergency calls, receiving over 2,500 distress calls in just 24 hours, and documented the collapse of three buildings in Gaza City due to the storm. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families remain displaced in fragile tents, struggling to survive the harsh winter conditions.

The ongoing blockade and aid restrictions imposed by Israel have worsened the crisis. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported that since the October ceasefire, only 15,600 tents have been delivered to Gaza—enough to shelter approximately 88,000 people, far below the 1.29 million people currently in need of emergency housing.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem confirmed that more than 6,500 trucks carrying essential winter supplies—including tents, blankets, warm clothing, and hygiene materials—are still waiting at the border for entry into Gaza.

Rising Health Concerns

UNICEF Palestine warned of a looming public health disaster as children wander flooded camps barefoot and families contend with poor sanitation conditions. Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s chief of communication, emphasized the risk of waterborne diseases, including acute diarrhoea, resulting from prolonged exposure to contaminated floodwater.

The United Nations processed more than 160 flooding alerts on Thursday alone as Storm Byron swept through Gaza, according to Farhan Haq, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Haq stressed the urgent need for shelters, warm clothing, and tarps to protect vulnerable children from hypothermia and other winter-related illnesses.

Families Struggle Amid Storm Conditions

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud described families fleeing seaport areas and seeking shelter in remaining intact buildings as wind and rain intensified. “They’re trying to get deeper inside Gaza City, to shelter in any of the remaining intact buildings – at least for the night,” Mahmoud said.

He added that families faced “another battle now with the forces of nature” on top of the humanitarian challenges they have endured for the past two years, highlighting the compounded risks of displacement, restricted aid, and severe winter weather.

The death of Rahaf Abu Jazar underscores the urgent need for immediate humanitarian assistance, particularly shelters, tents, blankets, and warm clothing for Gaza’s displaced population, as international organizations and aid agencies appeal for expedited access and delivery of supplies.