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Doctors Without Borders, known by its moniker MSF, has issued a warning that the Gaza Strip’s children and babies are dying from harsh winter weather. It also requests that Israel ease its aid embargo as the military continues to waggle its genocidal war.

According to MSF, the death of a 29-day-old premature baby, Said Asad Abedin, who was born in Khan Younis, was brought on by severe hypothermia.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Thursday that there were 13 fatalities due to extreme weather. Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, a second baby born two weeks ago, froze to death in a shelter or clothing malfunction earlier this week.

In a video update, Ahmed al-Farra, the head of Nasser Medical Complex’s maternity and paediatric division, said that “hypothermia is very dangerous” for babies. We will see more and more deaths, according to al-Farra, if nothing is done to help these families in the tents, the warming, the mobile homes, the caravans, or the tents, he said.

According to MSF, children are “losing their lives because they lack the most fundamental necessities for survival,” according to Nasser Hospital’s nursing team manager Bilal Abu Saada. “Babies are coming to the hospital cold with near-death vital signs.”

In addition to the rising death rate, MSF reported that its staff expects to see high rates of respiratory infections, which are a particular threat for children under five.

“Sortens of thousands of Palestinians continue to struggle in flooded and decommissioned makeshift tents as Gaza is battered by heavy rains and storms,” the organization continued. “MSF urges Israeli authorities to urgently permit a sizable increase in aid flow into the Strip.”

Israeli attacks continue without a hitch.

Meanwhile, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli forces shot and destroyed buildings on Saturday morning in areas east of Gaza City, and more gunfire was reported east of Khan Younis.

At least six people were killed when Israel attacked a shelter for Palestinian refugees on Friday. The Israeli military allegedly fired on “suspects” of the law.

Body parts and frightened civilians attempting to rescue injured people from danger were seen in the scene’s graphic videos.

The occupied West Bank town of az-Zawiya was also attacked by military vehicles as well, according to the organization. There, the forces severely injured and severely injured a number of residents and stormed homes, according to the organization.

“His tiny cries are still audible to me.”

More than 53, 000 tents that have been displaced Palestinians’ temporary shelters have been flooded or blown away in recent weeks due to heavy rain, high winds, and freezing temperatures.

The destruction of significant amounts of infrastructure and buildings causes flooding and sewage overflows. Despite the risk of collapse, scattered families have sought refuge in the shells of partially collapsed buildings, with 13 of them caving in across Gaza last week.

Children and babies have been found to be fatally affected by the winter weather and Israel’s blocking of essential aid and mobile homes for shelter.

Eman Abu al-Khair, a 34-year-old displaced Palestinian living in al-Mawasi west of Khan Younis, discovered her sleeping baby Mohammed as “cold as ice,” his hands and feet frozen, and “his face stiff and yellowish,” she told Al Jazeera.

Due to the severe rain, it was impossible for her and her husband to travel by foot to the hospital.

Mohammed was taken into intensive care in Khan Younis after being rushed by an animal-drawn cart to Red Crescent Hospital in Khan Younis at dawn, with a blue face and convulsions. He passed away shortly after.

Eman said, “I can still hear his tiny cries in my ears.” I go to sleep and leave, unable to accept that his crying and awakening me at night will never occur again.

She continued, “No medical issues were reported for Mohammed.” His tiny body was unable to withstand the tents’ extreme cold.

Despite being requested to stop by a number of UN agencies, international organizations, and other countries since the October 10 ceasefire ended, Israel has continued to obstruct the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Despite the fact that an estimated 55, 000 families have seen their belongings and shelters damaged or destroyed in the storm, Israel has said it has prevented tents and blankets from reaching Palestinians.

According to the UN, there have also been scores of damages to thousands of kid-friendly locations, affecting about 30 000 children.

Aid is entering Gaza in a “trickle,” according to Natasha Hall, a senior advocate for Refugees International, in part because of its opaque list of “controlled dual-use items,” which included tents, tools, bandages, and other necessities.

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Students at the Islamic University of Gaza have re-enrolled in in-person classes for the first time in two years as a result of Israel’s genocide against the besieged Palestinian enclave.

About 500 displaced families are now residing in these buildings that Israel’s relentless assault has rendered hollow shells. This Gaza City university, which reopened following the ceasefire in October, is now a home to.

The former lecture halls’ original locations, which were stark examples of Gaza’s dual crises of homelessness and educational collapse, are now covered in tents.

One of the students looking for safety on campus, Atta Siam, said, “We came here after being displaced from Jabalia because we had nowhere else to go.” However, this is a place for education. It’s a place where our kids can study, not as a shelter.

Despite conditions that don’t closely resemble a functioning university, thousands of students have rekindled hope as a result of the partially resumed classes.

Since the start of the war in October 2023, UNESCO estimates that more than 95 percent of Gaza’s higher education facilities have suffered significant damage or destruction.

Youmna Albaba, a first-year medical student, claimed she had a dream about enrolling in a university that was properly equipped.

She said, “I need a place where I can concentrate fully and with all the necessary qualifications.” “But I didn’t find what I had imagined here,” she continued. I do still believe that everything is being built from scratch.

More than 750, 000 Palestinian students have been left without education for two consecutive academic years by what human rights organizations and experts from the UN have called “scholasticide,” according to the Gaza-based organization Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

Recent statistics reveal that 137 of the country’s 494 schools and universities have been completely or partially destroyed, with 137 of those destroying themselves. According to Al Mezan’s report from January, there were 12,800 students killed, along with 760 teachers, educational staff, and 150 academics and researchers.

In January 2024, Israeli forces destroyed Isra University, which was the last remaining university in Gaza.

In the face of power cuts, equipment shortages, and subpar learning environments, professors at the Islamic University are using whatever resources are available. Dr. Adel Awadallah compared using plastic sheets to accomodate as many students as possible by covering exposed walls with plastic sheets. He claimed that we have borrowed motors to run the university’s equipment.

Taus of students rely on these temporary arrangements to continue their education despite only four classrooms being operational.

In April 2024, UN experts warned that the destruction might be a deliberate attempt to scuttle Palestinian society’s foundations.

Their statement read, “As schools are destroyed, so are hopes and dreams,” referring to the pattern of attacks as systematic violence against the educational infrastructure.

Beyond just physical destruction, the difficulties are greater. Families with limited access to food, water, and medicine find it nearly impossible to support children’s education.

Electricity blackouts, internet outages, and ongoing displacement have undermined the Ministry of Education and UNRWA’s remote learning initiatives.

Yet, students continue to study. They have consistently identified returning to school as a top priority, a chance to reclaim normalcy and their futures, despite the trauma of more than two years of Israeli bombardment and the loss of family members.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement to lead the investigation into the government’s failings ahead of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023 has drawn sharp criticism from all sides of Israel.

Since the attacks, there have been countless calls for a state commission of inquiry to be led by a sitting or retired Supreme Court justice.

The establishment of an inquiry that can demand the government’s guilt has been backed by senior military figures, the families of many of the people who were killed or taken as captive on October 7 and polls of the Israeli population.

Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to prevent any official inquiries into any errors in his or his government’s actions, arguing instead that the responsibility of overseeing his nation’s genocidal war against Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 70, 000 people since October 2023, had to be prioritized.

However, the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Thursday that Netanyahu would instead be moving forward with legislation to create a politically appointed inquiry, with parliament Speaker Amir Ohana, a close ally of the prime minister, expected to play a significant role in the selection of its members.

A chair would be chosen from among the six members of the plan’s body, according to the organization. For each of the six appointments, the government has stated that it will first seek cross-party support. However, Ohana would be authorized to appoint its representatives if the opposition boycotts the proceedings as is widely anticipated.

On Monday, coincidentally the day that Netanyahu’s long-running corruption trial is scheduled to take place, the ministerial team tasked with determining the scope of the inquiry will meet in West Jerusalem.

Why won’t the investigation be impartial?

According to a poll conducted by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies in October, three out of four Israelis voted in favor of establishing an independent state inquiry.

Senior military personnel and the families of those killed or taken hostage by the October 7 attack experience feelings that are particularly high.

After some of the families of the bereaved were accused of holding up signs demanding a state inquiry in court, some of the proceedings in Netanyahu’s criminal trial were delayed earlier this month. They strenuously denied this accusation.

The relatives did not “provoke him]Netanyahu] in the eyes and demand the simplest of things, a state commission of inquiry,” the father of one of the soldiers killed on October 7 told the judges.

Herzi Halevi, the former head of the military, and former defense minister Yoav Gallant have both repeatedly called for a state inquiry.

22 former captors and dozens of family members wrote open letters to the government demanding either a state inquiry be launched or the government step down.

The letter urges Israel’s government to stop evading, stop putting things off, stop lying, and establish a full state commission of inquiry right away.

However, Netanyahu and his ruling coalition have repeatedly criticized the concept of a state inquiry, claiming that a Supreme Court-appointed judge cannot be relied upon to render an impartial decision.

What kind of political response was given to the inquiry’s announcement?

Fury outside the coalition

The Democratic leader, Yair Golan, wrote on social media that “this isn’t a conflict of interest; it’s organized crime organized under the guise of the law.” The man who caused the biggest disaster in human history is seeking an alibi rather than answers.

The planned inquiry has been criticized by other Netanyahu opponents.

A guilty conscience also comes to life when Avigdor Liberman, the Yisrael Beytenu party’s leader, uses a Hebrew expression that reads “a guilty conscience gives itself away.”

Meanwhile, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party announced that it would request that the government appoint a state commission of inquiry on Monday.

How have victims of October 7’s families handled the situation?

Angrily.

The October Council, a group representing the families of Israelis killed and taken captive on October 7, released a statement in response to the government’s announcement. “The Israeli government continues to spit in the face of the bereaved families, the freed hostages, the hostages’ families, the victims’ families, the residents of the south and the north, the reservists, and of all Israeli citizens.”

You, who will be subject to the same state commission of inquiry, will not obstruct the investigation or conceal the truth, the letter continued, addressing the government. You won’t be permitted. You have fought back against us, against our loved ones’ memories, and against our children’s future.

What inquiries have been made in the past?

An army investigation into its actions on October 7 and subsequent attacks in February found that the army had greatly underestimated the Palestinian group’s capabilities.

Halevi acknowledged the “terrible” security and intelligence “failures” that had plagued the military’s response to the incursion and that he had already resigned prior to the inquiry’s conclusion.

Eyal Zamir’s successor, Halevi, appointed an external panel in November, which revealed the military’s “inadequate” investigation into its conduct.

Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, acknowledged a number of mistakes in a separate investigation in March, including failing to correctly identify Hamas’ threat and share information with the military. Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet director, announced his resignation in April following a drawn-out dispute with Netanyahu.

As fighting continues in the vast strategic Kordofan region, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that the ongoing violence is “horrifying” and that all those involved will be subject to lasting condemnation.

Rubio stated at a press conference on Friday that the conflict in Sudan needed to end, adding that the new year would provide “a great opportunity for both sides to agree to that” and allow desperately needed aid to reach the millions of people who are still ensnared in the conflict.

His remarks came as Kordofan’s violence has caused more than 50 000 people to flee and at least 100 civilians to die since early December.

Rubio remarked, “What’s happening there is horrifying, it’s atrocious,” adding that “everyone involved will look bad one day as the truth about what actually happened there is revealed.”

President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in late November, and US special envoy Massad Boulos just returned from speaking with Egyptian, Saudi Arabian, and UAE officials.

Rubio claimed to have collaborated with the United Kingdom and had conversations with leaders in the area.

The top US diplomat cited external weapons sources as a key factor in the ongoing, third-year, brutal conflict between the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“All of these weapons were obtained abroad,” the statement states. According to Rubio, they must have originated somewhere else and must have done so through somewhere else.

Conflict experts claim that Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied that the UAE provides direct material support to the RSF through a network that spans neighboring nations.

In addition, the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are involved in mediation efforts while the SAF is close to Turkiye, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

Rubio acknowledged the difficulty of achieving a ceasefire, claiming that parties frequently agree to commitments but fail to do so, especially when one side believes the momentum on the battlefield is in its favor.

Rubio argued that the US role is to convene parties and encourage outside actors to use their influence, not that any of these organizations could function without the support they were receiving externally.

Kordofan is where fighting shifts.

According to the Sudan Doctors Network, at least 16 people have died in the past two days as a result of the RSF and allied fighters shelling residential areas of Dilling, including women, elderly residents, and children. The heaviest fighting has now moved from Darfur to Kordofan, where the RSF and allied fighters have shelled residential areas.

According to Mohamed Refaat, the international organization’s chief of mission in Sudan, El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan and a crucial hub for transportation connecting routes to South Sudan, eastern Sudan, and Darfur, the next potential target appears to be.

He warned that if fighting breaks out in the city, more than half a million people could be affected.

Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed on December 13 when drones struck their Kadugli base. What it called a “heinous and deliberate” attack that might lead to war crimes was condemned by the UN Security Council on Friday.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 80% of all fatalities have been attributed to strikes on medical facilities in Sudan this year, according to a report released on Friday. The WHO has verified 201 healthcare premises attacks since the conflict started in April 2023, with 1, 858 people dead.

After nine members of the original group of 73 were released, 64 medical workers are still being detained in Nyala, the RSF’s parallel government, according to the Sudan Doctors Network on Thursday.

The representative of the African Union to Sudan, who has condemned what he describes as systematic RSF attacks on civilians, said the perpetrators will not escape punishment and rejected any parallel institutions on Sudanese soil this week.

Both the RSF and the SAF have been accused of war crimes, with El-Fasher and the RSF also facing genocide allegations.