All people who know about the story of the death of Palestinian infant Mohammed Alswerki 12-day old feel like their bodies are shaking of horror as they know about the story of an infant whose family home was destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) before his birth and then at the beginning of the new year the cold weather has taken his life ending his short-lived life in a tragic manner.
Palestinian medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah city in the Gaza Strip have announced the death of Palestinian infant Mohammed Ahmed al-Suwerki after his motionless body arrived at the hospital due to the cold weather.
Al-Suwerki’s father and his brothers lost their houses during the 2014 offensive after it was destroyed at the hands of the invading Israeli army. They sought refuge in caravans described as “Fridges” by locals to suggest how cold they tend to be during winter.
Last Night
Ahmed al-Suwerki 22 the father of the infant is still in shock. He didn’t pay much attention to his wife repeatedly breastfeeding his infant during the night.
He told the PIC reporter “I live with my wife and my two children Hani three-years old and Mohammed 12-day-old in this Caravan which is as cold as a fridge is during the winter.” He was taken by surprise after his wife checked on his infant in the morning of the following day to find him motionless.
The family of al-Suwerki had left its house located to the east of Gaza which was destroyed during the 2014 IOF offensive on the Strip and sought refuge at a UN-run school. Following the end of the offensive the family was offered a caravan which it continues to live in at until now.
He continues “My situation is very difficult and it got even worse due to the cold weather. Now I have lost my son all I ask for is a house in return for my apartment which was destroyed by the IOF. I tell the whole world: come and see my condition.”
Death Room
The PIC reporter said “Abu Majdi al-Suwerki the infant’s grandfather took me to the Caravan where the family lives”. The Caravan is just hundreds of meters away from the eastern borders of Gaza.
The grandfather points at the infant’s bed which was rearranged following his death and which seemed to be tidy and uninhabited saying: “Here we don’t have heating systems and the cold weather killed my grandson.”
The parents sent the infant to his grandfather last Sunday to check on him and to go together to the hospital yet he was dead even before they arrived at the hospital.
He added “Our area lives in a catastrophic condition and the situation of my son’s family is very bad. In the past my children used to live in a concrete-house and following the war they lived in caravans. Aid organizations keep promising to help but they don’t give any financial aid to rent a house just like many others don’t.”
Abu Khader al-Suwerki one of the relatives of the dead infant holds the Palestinian government responsible for what happened to the infant calling the year 2017 “A Year of Darkness.”
He adds “The electricity supplies got even worse from eight to three hours per day only. Had the family had electricity they would have had turned heating on. Siege division and the government are killing us inside our own houses.”
The news of the death of the infant was shocking for the rest of his cousins. Yet the family fears more for his grandmother now in her 80s who the family had to take to the hospital twice during last week due to the cold weather and because of her suffering from asthma.
