‘Children are now freezing to death’: harrowing updates from Gaza

The horrors in Gaza show no signs of abating, the UN said on Thursday, noting that the Ministry of Health reports that over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed there since October 2023, most of them women and children.  

Tragically in the last month alone, eight newborns have died of hypothermia and 74 children have already died amid the brutal conditions of winter in 2025.  

“We enter this New Year carrying the same horrors as the last - there’s been no progress and no solace. Children are now freezing to death,” Louise Wateridge from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, told UN News. 

Meanwhile, hostilities continue with relentless operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) causing mass casualties and widespread destruction. 

Simultaneously, rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel also continues, endangering civilians in the country.

“The Secretary-General again strongly condemns the widespread killing of - and injury to - civilians in this conflict” said his Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in a briefing on Thursday.

Hunger crisis grinds on

UN humanitarian partners have reported that the hunger crisis across the Gaza Strip continues to worsen, amid critical supply shortages, severe access restrictions and violent armed looting.

In Central and Southern Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) disclosed that as of Sunday, UN humanitarian partners had exhausted all supplies in their warehouses. 

This comes at a time when Israeli authorities continue to deny most requests to bring food assistance from the Erez West crossing to areas south of Wadi Gaza.

About 120,000 metric tonnes of food assistance, which is enough to provide rations for the entire population for more than three months, remains stranded outside of the Strip.

UN partners have warned that if additional supplies are not received, the distribution of food parcels to hungry families will remain extremely limited.

“More than 50 community kitchens providing over 200,000 meals a day to people in central and southern Gaza would also be at risk of shutting down in the coming days,” reported Mr. Dujarric.

Impossible choices 

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), as of Monday, only five of 20 bakeries supported by the agency are still operational across the Gaza Strip - all of them within Gaza governorate.

In order to be able to stay up and running, these bakeries rely on continued fuel deliveries by partners from southern Gaza.

However, humanitarian partners have now warned that the lack of fuel to power generators is crippling Gaza’s health system, putting the lives of patients at risk and leaving aid workers with impossible choices to make.

North Gaza update 

The conditions are particularly alarming in besieged North Gaza where the movement of humanitarian personnel is heavily restricted.

Ongoing attacks and hostilities in the area have severely disrupted healthcare services for survivors who remain there. 

Access to Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya - the only hospital in North Gaza still partially functioning - is extremely limited.

OCHA reports that Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts, including the most recent attempt on Wednesday to reach the region.

Across the Strip, the Israeli authorities facilitated only five missions out of 15, with four impeded, three denied and another three canceled due to security or logistical challenges.

“In Gaza, parents and children remain missing beneath rubble, separated or detained - their fates unanswered. Hope is silenced, and the brutal war rages on,” said Ms. Wateridge. 

The path forward 

Despite ongoing difficulties, the UN and its partners are working towards reaching people throughout the region with critical support. 

Across Gaza, between 22 December and 8 January, some 560,000 people received primary and secondary healthcare services.

The Secretary-General called on all parties to respect international humanitarian law. “Civilians must be protected and respected at all times and their essential needs must be met,” said Mr. Dujarric on his behalf.

“There must be an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages being held in Gaza,” he firmly concluded.