Baby Dies of Hypothermia in Gaza as Israeli Attacks Surge Across the Territory

A nine-month-old baby has died of hypothermia in southern Gaza, where falling temperatures and continued Israeli restrictions on aid are compounding conditions for displaced families, AFP reported, citing medical sources.

Kinan Ahmed Raqiq was found dead by his father overnight as the family sheltered in a tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. His father, Ahmed, was later seen weeping outside Nasser Hospital while holding his son's shrouded body.

"I woke up only to see his skin had turned blue so I rushed him to Nasser Hospital, but he had already died from hypothermia and frozen to death," he told AFP. "I am in complete shock. I found myself holding my son wrapped in a burial shroud."

Heavy rains have swept across the enclave in recent days, flooding thousands of tents where most of Gaza's population is forced to live, as restrictions on the entry of aid remain in place.

As temperatures dropped on Thursday, Israeli attacks across Gaza intensified, with health officials saying 11 people had been killed since dawn.

The day before the infant's death, two Israeli drones struck the surgical department of Nasser Hospital, the same facility where his father sought help, killing six people, including a surgeon and a child, and wounding around 30 others. An AFP journalist at the scene reported that an exterior staircase had partially collapsed and that an entire floor inside was damaged, with rubble from collapsed walls mixed with broken medical equipment.

Medical Aid for Palestine said on Friday that surgical services at the hospital have been suspended and that "comprehensive repair and rehabilitation works" are needed before they can resume.

Gaza's civil defence reported five additional deaths in separate attacks across the territory on Thursday. One person was killed by Israeli fire near al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, and another died in a strike on a civilian vehicle in Deir el-Balah. Wafa identified the victim of the second strike as 26-year-old Nashat Fouad Awwad.

In western Gaza City, an Israeli drone hit a vehicle near the entrance to Al-Shifa Hospital, killing two people, while another strike in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, killed one person and wounded several others, Wafa reported. The attacks continued into Friday, with one person shot dead by Israeli forces in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood, according to Al Jazeera, citing sources at Al-Shifa Hospital.

At least 1,614 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since a ceasefire took effect in October last year, with another 5,849 wounded. The overall number of Palestinians killed since the war began in October 2023 now stands at 74,645, with 175,978 wounded and thousands more missing or buried under rubble.