Two Palestinian infants have died from severe burns after a fire swept through a displacement tent in Al Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where families have been forced to cook over open flames due to severe supply shortages caused by Israel's blockade.
The victims were identified by Nasser Medical Complex as two-month-old Habiba Mohammed Zanoun and seven-month-old Aseel Abu Suhayban. Both infants passed away on Saturday morning in the hospital's intensive care unit after the blaze broke out on Friday afternoon while relatives were gathered inside the shelter. Habiba was scheduled to receive her two-month vaccinations on the day she died. Aseel's mother also suffered burns as she rushed into the flames to save her daughter and was hospitalized for treatment.
According to sources, the fire began while food was being prepared inside the shelter. Severe shortages of cooking gas and basic provisions across the enclave have left displaced families with no option but to prepare meals over open fires. The infants' grandmother explained that her daughter had brought Habiba to visit the family when the fire suddenly erupted, leaving neither child able to survive the severity of their injuries. She expressed her grief, asking why such tragedy continues to afflict them, noting that for three years they have endured displacement, anguish, pain, and constant exposure to accidents, bombings, and fires.
The tragedy in Al Mawasi was one of three separate tent blazes reported across central and southern Gaza on Friday. In June, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that cooking inside tents was a primary cause of fires in displacement camps. OCHA noted that materials used by families to reinforce their shelters, including blankets, old fabric, cardboard, and plastic sheeting, allow flames to spread quickly and make blazes significantly harder to control.
Humanitarian organizations continue to encounter obstacles in delivering shelter aid to the region. OCHA reported that on August 26 and September 2, Israeli authorities denied entry to a previously approved aid shipment via the Egyptian corridor that contained 36,960 pieces of timber and 660 emergency shelter kits. Figures from the Gaza Government Media Office indicate that more than 800,000 displaced Palestinians live in tents unfit for human habitation, with an estimated 162,000 of Gaza's 270,000 displacement tents requiring immediate replacement.
