A baby girl, only three months old, was discovered frozen to death on Tuesday morning at her Gaza City home, media reports say. This tragedy raises the cold weather death toll this season to nine, as stated by UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq in New York. In response, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, urged urgent solutions, including allowing the entry of batteries, solar panels, and other energy sources necessary to establish communal heating spaces.
Thousands Receive Food Aid
Humanitarians continue supporting Gaza’s population over three months into the ceasefire amid ongoing aid restrictions. Since the year’s start, more than 860,000 people have received food packages from 50 distribution points, said Mr. Haq. “We also continue to provide some 1.6 million hot meals every day to people in need,” he added.
Vaccines, Medical Evacuations
UN health sector partners vaccinated 3,000 children under three in the initial two days of a 10-day routine immunization campaign launched on Sunday. This is aimed at further protecting young lives from vaccine-preventable diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) also facilitated a medical evacuation on Monday, transporting 21 patients and their companions to Jordan. However, more than 18,000 patients, including 4,000 children, still await evacuation for unavailable medical care in Gaza. WHO urged more UN Member States to accept these patients and for reopening the medical evacuation route to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
West Bank Update
OCHA released its latest West Bank monthly update, indicating 14 Palestinians were killed and 231 injured in December. Israeli settlers conducted 132 attacks, causing casualties or property damage, displacing 246 Palestinians. Seven Israelis were injured, but no fatalities were recorded. The report highlighted record-high displacement and settler attacks in 2025.
Ammunition, Airstrikes, and Attacks
In the West Bank last year, there were 240 Palestinian fatalities, including 55 children. Most deaths, 225, were by Israeli forces, and nine by settlers. Three-quarters of all fatalities (181) were from live ammunition, and 17 percent (41) were due to air strikes, with other weapons accounting for 18 deaths, or eight percent. Last year, 3,982 Palestinians were injured, including nearly 700 children, and 37,135 were displaced. Israeli settler attacks numbered 1,828, resulting in casualties and/or property damage. During the same period, 17 Israelis were killed, including a child and six force members, and 101 Israelis were injured, with five children and 32 soldiers among them.
Palestinian Neighborhoods Systematically Emptied
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned that forced displacement of Palestinians in East Jerusalem is accelerating, with historic neighborhoods being “systematically emptied.” Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR’s office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), highlighted demolitions and evictions in Silwan neighborhood south of the Old City. Settlements have unlawfully expanded in the heart of significant Palestinian urban centers: East Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem.
Homes Taken Over
“Evictions typically result in the transfer of Palestinian homes to Israeli settlers, further eroding Palestinian presence immediately adjacent to the Old City,” he told UN News. “Some homes are taken over by Israeli authorities for settlement projects, including a tourist park with a cable car line connecting West Jerusalem to the Old City.” A ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2024 found that Israel’s forced evictions and extensive house demolitions violate the prohibition of forcible transfer under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The ICJ, the UN’s principal judicial body, called on Israel to end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
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