Nine-month-old Kinan dies of hypothermia in his family's tent in Khan Younis as winter storms flood Gaza's camps
A nine-month-old baby, Kinan Ahmed Raqiq, died from hypothermia overnight on Thursday inside his family's displacement tent in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, a doctor told AFP. His father said he woke to find the baby's skin turned blue and rushed him to Nasser Hospital, and Gaza's Civil Defence confirmed the death. It came days after storms flooded tens of thousands of tents across Gaza, where UN agencies say hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in flood-prone areas as winter sets in.
Key points
- Nine-month-old Kinan Ahmed Raqiq died from hypothermia in his family's tent in Khan Younis on Thursday night, a doctor told AFP; Gaza's Civil Defence confirmed the death.
- Storms in the past week flooded tens of thousands of tents; the UN says 26,000 households were affected as of 8 November.
- Save the Children says about 70,000 tents sheltering some 350,000 people flooded in the season's first winter storm, and four children were killed when a sandbank collapsed near Deir al-Balah.
Show more (1)
- UN agencies say about 950,000 displaced people are living in flood-prone areas and 650,000 children need winter aid.
What happened
Virtually the whole population of Gaza has been displaced at least once by three years of war, and most displaced families are living in tents. Last week's heavy rain flooded tents across the strip just as temperatures fell, and a six-month-old baby was also reported to have frozen to death in his family tent on 8 November after it flooded in the storm.
On Thursday, 53 countries and organisations issued a joint call for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza ahead of winter, saying the shelter and aid levels agreed in January 2025 had not yet been reached.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That nine-month-old Kinan Ahmed Raqiq died of hypothermia in his family's Khan Younis tent on Thursday night, confirmed by a doctor, his father and Gaza's Civil Defence.
- That storms flooded tens of thousands of tents in the past week, on UN and Save the Children figures.
What we don't know yet
- Israel's account of winter-supply deliveries and restrictions — none was in the reporting read.
- How many people in total have died from cold and flooding this season — no settled overall count has been published.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (4)
Why this label: The death is confirmed by three named or identified witnesses in the AFP reporting: the treating doctor, the father, and the Civil Defence spokesman.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The household and flooding figures are the UN agencies' own published figures, carried in the AFP reporting and in the agencies' own statements.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: This is the charity's own statement of what its teams recorded; its regional director called the disaster man-made, which is the charity's position, stated as such.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The restrictions claim is carried as the position of Al Jazeera's reporting and Palestinian officials; the other side's account is absent from the reporting read and is listed among what is not yet known.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
Why it matters
A baby freezing inside a tent is the sharpest measure of the shelter crisis: the UN figures say nearly a million displaced people are living where floods reach, with winter only beginning. Kinan's death is confirmed by his doctor, his father and the Civil Defence — what remains disputed is why winter supplies are not reaching families like his.
Background
The first winter storm of the season floods about 70,000 tents in 12 hours; a sandbank collapse west of Deir al-Balah kills four children; a six-month-old is reported to have frozen to death in a flooded tent.
53 countries and organisations call jointly for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza ahead of winter.
Nine-month-old Kinan Ahmed Raqiq dies of hypothermia in his family's tent in Khan Younis.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published — the baby's death is confirmed by a doctor, his father and Gaza's Civil Defence; the claim about restrictions on winter supplies is labelled disputed, with no Israeli comment in the reporting read.