9-month-old baby died of cold in Gaza: His father told about his experiences

9-month-old Kinan Ahmed Rakik, who lived in a tent with his family in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, died after being exposed to extreme cold at night.

A doctor who spoke to AFP and requested anonymity confirmed that the baby died due to hypothermia (a dangerously low body temperature).

Kinan's father, Ahmed Rakik, said that when he woke up in the morning after the temperature dropped throughout the night, he noticed that his son was motionless.

"When I woke up, I saw that his skin had turned blue. I immediately took him to Nasir Hospital, but he had already died due to hypothermia," said the father, expressing his pain with the following words:

I'm in complete shock. I found myself holding my son wrapped in a shroud.

The images of the father carrying his baby's lifeless body wrapped in a white shroud in his arms in front of the hospital once again brought to the fore the increasingly deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Gaza Civil Defense Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal also confirmed that the baby died as a result of exposure to extreme cold.

The baby's death occurred at a time when winter conditions in Gaza were getting worse and restrictions on humanitarian aid entry to the region continued.

More than 50 countries and organizations, led by the UK, Qatar and Jordan, called on Israel to immediately allow the entry of shelter materials, fuel, clean water, hygiene products and health equipment into Gaza.

In the joint statement, it was stated that many people in Gaza still lack adequate shelter and warned against hypothermia, respiratory infections, water-borne diseases and other preventable health problems.

Similar criticisms were voiced by the US-led Peace Board and United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Tom Fletcher.

Israeli Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the criticism and argued that aid materials, including 91 thousand tents, were allowed to enter Gaza. Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was solely responsible for the suffering of civilians in the region.

In addition to the cold weather in Gaza, heavy rains in recent days have also deepened the housing crisis.

Due to the floods caused by the rain, the tents in which tens of thousands of people lived were submerged. Following the flood, five people, three of whom were children, lost their lives as a result of the sandbar eroding and collapsing on the tents.

According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 26 thousand households were affected by storms and heavy rains as of November 8.

UN data reveals that approximately 65 percent of Gaza's population still lives displaced in tents or other temporary shelters.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Spokesperson James Elder pointed out that the floods in Gaza are only the beginning of the upcoming winter season.

Elder explained the seriousness of the humanitarian conditions in the region with the following words:

It is very important to understand how bad the situation in Gaza is. Winter hasn't come yet.

Stating that there are weeks left until the winter season, Elder emphasized that despite this, extraordinary rainfall and cold weather conditions are already effective in Gaza.