Two Palestinian infants have died of severe burns after a fire tears through a displacement tent in Al Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, as families cook over open flames amid shortages under Israel’s blockade.
Habiba Mohammed Zanoun, two months old, and Aseel Abu Suhayban, seven months old, died on Saturday morning at Nasser Medical Complex, which identifies them. Both are admitted to intensive care after flames break out on Friday afternoon while relatives are gathered at the tent.
Habiba was due for her two-month vaccinations on the day she dies.
Sources tell Anadolu the fire started while food is being cooked inside the tent. They said severe shortages of cooking gas and basic supplies force displaced families to prepare meals over open fires.
Aseel’s mother rushed to save her daughter and suffers burns. She was also taken to hospital.
‘Why is all this happening to us?’
The girls’ grandmother told Anadolu that her daughter had come to visit the family when the fire erupted. Habiba was her daughter’s baby, she said, and neither infant could withstand 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 added.
Cooking without safe alternatives
Sources said the blaze is one of three fires reported on Friday in displacement tents in central and southern Gaza.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in June that cooking inside tents is a leading cause of fires. It said blankets, old fabric, cardboard and plastic sheeting used to reinforce shelters let flames spread rapidly and make fires harder to control.
OCHA also reported that Israeli authorities denied entry on August 26 and September 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 said more than 800,000 displaced Palestinians live in tents unfit for human habitation. It estimates that 162,000 of Gaza’s 270,000 displacement tents need immediate replacement.
