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.
