Winter's bitter cold is taking a terrible toll in Gaza. In the past week alone, six babies have perished from hypothermia and with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in tents, and temperatures expected to drop even further, the UN Children’s agency is warning more children’s lives are at risk. Unicef, like all aid agencies, says they continue to face obstacles on bringing life-saving aid into Gaza. Israel blames Hamas, accusing it of stealing the aid. Also in the programme: Scientists claim to have detected which volcano erupted in 1831, causing catastrophic weather which led to widespread crop failures and devastating famines; and our look back at the reporting highlights of 2024. (Photo: People pray next to the bodies of two Palestinian babies who died of hypothermia at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on 29 December 2024. Credit: Reuters/Ramadan Abed)
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Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service.
We're coming to you live from our studio in London.
I'm Lise Doucet and it is the last day of the year.
And coming up, we'll hear from NewsHour's James Menendez.
He's been looking at some of the standout stories of the year and of our year.
2:25 minutes.
But first, we begin in Gaza, where winter's bitter cold is taking a terrible tol.
In the past week alone, six babies have perished from hypothermia.
And with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in tents and temperatures expected to drop Even further, the UN's children's agency is warning more children's lives are at risk.
Unicef, like all aid agencies, say they continue to face obstacles on bringing life saving aid into Gaza.
Israel blames Hamas, accusing it of stealing the aid.
In a moment, we'll look at Israel's approach to the Gaza war.
But first, our correspondent in Jerusalem, Nader, has worked with two freelance journalists in Gaza.
The BBC, like other international media, is barred from traveling there to report independently.
And a warning that his report includes upsetting events.
Mahmoud Fasih is walking through the courtyard of a hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis.
He's cradling a small bundle with both of his arms, a baby shrouded in white cloth.
Little Sila was just 20 days old.
When her father couldn't wake her in the morning, I found her stiff like wood.