Infant, 27-days-old, freezes to death in Gaza, as Trump appoints ‘board of peace’

Conditions in Gaza have continued to worsen drastically amid the winter months and Israeli restrictions on aid, with an infant dying from the winter freeze on Saturday.

The infant was only 27 days old, and died in Khan Younis, the southern part of the enclave, where most displaced civilians are living in makeshift tents.

Medical sources told the official Palestinian Wafa news agency that the infant was named Aisha Ayeh al-Agha, and that a severe drop in temperatures had caused her to suffer.

According to reports, at least eight children have died from the cold in Gaza since the start of winter, with aid agencies noting that Israel has not met its aid obligations set out in the October ceasefire agreement, which stipulated that trucks of aid would enter Gaza daily.

Many Palestinians have been forced to rebuild their makeshift tents several times due to strong winds sweeping them away and flooding. A shortage of medical care and fuel shortages have also exacerbated the already dire situation.

The latest developments come as US President Trump announced on Friday that he had established a seven-member board to lead Gaza through the next phase of the truce deal and reconstruction phase.

He said the board would be made up of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, British former prime minister Tony Blair, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, World Bank president Ajay Banga, and the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump will be serving as the chair, with more appointments expected to come, reports say.

A White House statement said each executive board member will oversee a defined portfolio "critical to Gaza’s stabilisation". The statement added they will oversee governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation.

The inclusion of Blair on the board has already stirred controversy due to his role in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent effect it had on the region.

Ashish Prashar, the former advisor to the Middle East peace envoy, criticised the board, in comments made to The New Arab.

"It appears the only qualification for joining the Gaza "peace board" is to have a strong track record of endorsing (and arming) Israel's project of genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and criminalising those who oppose it," Prashar said.

"Trump’s Gaza "Board of Peace" was just a pilot project. All states who signed off on it are the ones who paved the way for Trump’s next "Boards of Peace" in Venezuela, Ukraine and any other place the extractionist American regime wants to take next," said.

Last October, Trump responded to remarks about criticism of Blair’s inclusion in the board.

"I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody," he said.

Other appointments include Aryeh Lightstone and Josh Gruenbaum as senior advisers to the board, whose roles will include overseeing the day-to-day strategy and operations.

Bulgarian politician and former UN envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, will be the High Representative for Gaza, while security operations will be overseen by the former head of US special forces, Maj Gen Jasper Jeffers.

The announcements come after a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee was formed, tasked with running daily affairs in a post-war Gaza.

Despite plans being drawn up for a post-war Gaza, the Israeli army has continued to violate the truce and target Palestinian civilians and infrastructure.

Local media reports stated that the Israeli military on Saturday bombed various parts of the Strip, wounding a child in Jabalia, while launching strikes east of Gaza City and the al-Bureij refugee camp.

Israel’s war on Gaza, determined to be a genocide by leading rights groups, has killed over 70,000 Palestinians and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.