Oxfam says babies in Gaza dying from preventable causes

Oxfam warned on Thursday that the collapse of Gaza's healthcare system, alongside worsening living conditions, is leading to babies dying of preventable diseases.

The NGO said babies as young as three months old are "dying of diarrhoea, hypothermia, dehydration and infection as mothers have little to no medical support and are living in appalling conditions without water, sanitation, heat or food." 

Oxfam's partner organisation in Gaza, Juzoor, said its network of doctors noted that "premature births have increased by between 25-30 per cent, as stressed and traumatised pregnant women face a myriad of challenges, such as walking long distances in search of safety, running away from bombs and being crowded into shelters with squalid conditions." 

The aid agency said that the four-day humanitarian pause if it happens, is too short and fragile to make any meaningful difference given the scale of need and destruction.

It added that without essential equipment and medical support, premature and underweight babies have little to no chance of survival.