FIRST Minister John Swinney has called for an end to the suffering in Gaza, following reports that several babies have frozen to death in tent camps.
In the last week, multiple babies have frozen to death in Gaza tent camps due to hypothermia, including a three-week-old baby who died on Christmas Day, as aid groups struggle to distribute warm clothing and materials to make fires.
The First Minister said on social media that “everything must be done” to ensure more lives are not lost.
Swinney shared a video from Sky News alongside his call for peace which showed a Palestinian father who had lost his 20-day-old son to hypothermia.
“The suffering in Gaza must come to an end,” Swinney said.
“This is a crisis for humanity which must be resolved.
“Everything must be done to bring peace to avoid any more lives being lost.”
In the two-minute video the father can be seen visibly upset while holding the body of his son.
He explained his family were displaced twice due to bombing by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) before moving to a tent camp.
He is then seen visiting his second son, the twin brother, in hospital who is fighting for his life against sepsis.
The SNP's leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, also commented on the video as he said: “To be silent is to be complicit.”
The Sky News bulletin showcases the squalid conditions, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crammed into often ramshackle tents after fleeing Israeli bombardment and offensives.
Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza have killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.
Israel’s offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes due to the war are packed into tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in.
Aid groups have warned that they are struggling to deliver food and supplies to those in tent camps and are in desperate need of aid.
They have said there are shortages of blankets, warm clothing and wood for fires.
