OMM Newsroom
Two infant girls died after a fire tore through a tent where relatives had gathered in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Anadolu Agency.
The fire broke out on Friday afternoon while food was being cooked inside the tent, sources told the agency. The girls suffered severe burns and were admitted to intensive care, but died on Saturday morning.
Nasser Medical Complex identified the children as Habiba Mohammed Zanoun, two months old, and Aseel Abu Suhayban, seven months old. Habiba was due to receive her two-month vaccinations on Saturday.
Grandmother says family tried to rescue the girls
The girls’ grandmother, who did not give her name, said her daughter had come to visit the family at their tent when the fire suddenly broke out. Habiba was her daughter’s baby, she said.
Aseel’s mother rushed to save her daughter and suffered burns. She was also taken to hospital.
The grandmother said neither infant could survive the severity of her injuries. “Why is all this happening to us?” she asked. “Every day there are accidents, bombings and fires, and people are dying in so many ways.”
“For three years, we have been living like this, amid displacement, anguish and pain,” she said.
Cooking fires pose a risk in crowded shelters
The blaze was one of three fires reported on Friday in displacement tents in central and southern Gaza, sources said. Severe shortages of cooking gas and basic supplies under Israel’s blockade have forced displaced families to prepare meals over open flames, they added.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in June that cooking inside displacement tents was a leading cause of fires. Blankets, old fabric, cardboard and plastic sheeting used to reinforce shelters can allow flames to spread quickly and make fires harder to control, it said.
Fire is among the dangers facing families in deteriorating tents that offer little protection from the weather.
OCHA also reported that Israeli authorities denied entry on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 to a previously approved shipment through the Egyptian corridor. The shipment contained 36,960 pieces of timber and 660 emergency shelter kits.
The Gaza Government Media Office previously reported that more than 800,000 displaced Palestinians were living in tents unfit for human habitation. It estimated that 162,000 of Gaza’s 270,000 displacement tents needed immediate replacement.
The grandmother appealed to the world to pay attention to displaced families in Gaza and help end their suffering.
