I’m very cold”… How does winter become a weapon to kill children?
NYN | Reports and Analyses
Every year, the twentieth of November comes to remind the world of children’s rights and the duty to protect them — except in Gaza, where this day returns laden with sorrow, reflecting another face of a childhood trapped between the cold of tents and the flames of war.
In the rain-torn refugee camps, the cry of a Gazan girl echoes: “I’m very cold.” Simple words, yet they capture the magnitude of the catastrophe.
A little girl shivering in cold far beyond her ability to endure, wrapping her frail body in search of any warmth, inside worn-out tents that protect neither from rain nor wind, after Israel had barred the entry of tents and heavy winter clothing for weeks.
Children crying from the cold, tents flooding, and rain turning into yet another weapon that devastates the displaced.
And with each passing day, the Israeli siege tightens, and any humanitarian or international obligations that were supposed to protect civilians continue to erode.
No agreement is respected, and no international pressure forces the occupation to allow even the minimum level of basic necessities.
Field estimates indicate that 93% of the displaced persons’ tents in Gaza were flooded during the recent waves of rain, while Israel continues to bomb buildings and roads and prevents the entry of humanitarian aid, including tents and heating materials.
Since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip in late 2023, thousands of children have been killed by Israeli fire. Those who survived the bombardment faced hunger, disease, and cold — until life in the camps became a daily battle for survival.
Medical sources have documented the deaths of 17 children from extreme cold due to the ban on entry of tents and heating supplies, and another child died just days ago, bringing the total to 18 children who perished silently in winter.
On World Children’s Day, Palestinians question the meaning of this day when the reality in Gaza reduces children’s rights to one thing: “surviving death.”
While children around the world enjoy safety, healthcare, and education, Gaza’s children stand face-to-face with cold, bombardment, and hunger — without protection, without justice, and without an international voice capable of stopping the tragedy.
Humanity falls year after year, while Israel continues using every possible means to break the resilience of civilians — until even the cold has become a systematic tool of killing.
Meanwhile, international institutions settle for issuing statements that change nothing, amid constant fear of angering the United States, Israel’s primary supporter.
In Gaza, children do not need slogans for a world day. They need a safe tent, a warm blanket, a meal, and a simple right to life — a right the world still fails to grant them.
