Gaza’s harsh conditions overshadow Board of Peace plan as world leaders gather in Davos
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The death of a Palestinian baby from hypothermia in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday underscored the dire humanitarian conditions in the region as world leaders gathered at a Swiss resort where President Donald Trump’s inauguration was held. Gaza ceasefire plan is high on the agenda.
Shaza Abu Jarad’s family found the 3-month-old baby in their tent in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood on Tuesday morning.
“He was freezing and died,” the baby’s father, Mohamed Abu Jarad, told The Associated Press by phone after the funeral. “He died of cold.”
The man, who worked in Israel before the war, lives in a makeshift tent with his wife and seven other children after their home was destroyed during the war.
Her uncle, Khalid Abu Jarad, said the family took the girl to Al-Ahly hospital, where the doctor said she died of hypothermia. The Ministry of Health confirmed that the baby died of hypothermia.
The family is among hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tent camps and war-torn buildings in Gaza, which experiences cold, wet winters where temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) at night.
While Palestinians in the war-torn region languish in displacement camps, Trump hopes to establish the new Peace Board. World Economic Forum in Davos. But the initiative, originally designed to monitor the Gaza ceasefire, faces many questions over its membership and scope.
Israel began demolishing the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem on Tuesday. continuing their pressure against an organization long accused of anti-Israel bias.
Shaza Abu Jarad was the ninth child to die from severe cold in Gaza this winter, according to the health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and is staffed by health experts. The UN and independent experts consider this document to be the most reliable source of war casualties. Israel disputes its own figures but did not provide its own figures.
More than 100 children have died since the ceasefire began in October; This figure includes a 27-day-old girl who died of hypothermia over the weekend.
The ceasefire paused the two-year war between Israel and Hamas militants and allowed for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, especially food.
But residents say blankets and warm clothing remain in short supply and there is little wood for a fire. Gaza has been without centralized electricity since the first few days of the war in 2023, and fuel for generators is scarce.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the recent freezing cold and rains in Gaza were “ultimately a threat to survival”.
Trump’s Peace Board It was initially seen as a mechanism focused on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
But recent invitations sent to dozens of world leaders suggest the body could have much broader authority over other global crises, potentially rivaling the U.N. Security Council.
Trump’s statement that the agency will “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict” is an indication that the agency may not limit its work to Gaza.
The panel was part of Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan that halted the war in Gaza in October. Many countries, including Russia, said they received Trump’s invitation and were working on the proposal. France said it did not plan to join the board “at this stage.”
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.
