A fourth baby died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war are huddled in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter sets in.
Jomaa al-Batran, 20 days old, was found with his head “cold as ice” when his parents woke up on Sunday, said his father, Yehia. The baby's twin brother, Ali, was transferred to the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Their father said the twins were born a month early and spent only one day in the hospital's nursery, which like other health centers in Gaza has been overwhelmed and is only partially functioning.
She said doctors told her mother to keep the newborns warm, but it was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures regularly drop below 10C at night.
“We are eight people and we only have four blankets,” al-Batran said as he cradled his son's pale body. He described drops of dew seeping through the tent cover during the night. “Look at its color because of the cold. Do you see how frozen it is?
The children, some of them barefoot, stood outside and watched him cry. The child wrapped in a shroud was placed at the feet of an imam, barely larger than his shoes. After the prayers, the imam took off his coat to his ankles and wrapped it around the father.
“Feel warm, my brother,” he said.
At least three other babies have died from the cold in recent weeks, according to local health officials.
Palestinian woman murdered in West Bank home
A Palestinian woman was shot dead in her home in the volatile West Bank city of Jenin, where the Palestinian Authority launched an unusual campaign against militants this month.
The family of Shatha al-Sabbagh, a 22-year-old journalism student, said she was killed by a Palestinian security forces sniper on Saturday night while she was with her mother and two children. They said there were no militants in the area at the time.
A statement from Palestinian security forces said she was shot by “outlaws,” the term they use to refer to local militants fighting Israeli forces. Security forces condemned the shooting and promised to investigate it.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-government in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He is unpopular among Palestinians, largely because he cooperates with Israel on security issues, even as Israel accuses him of incitement and generally turning a blind eye to militancy.
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In a statement, the al-Sabbagh family accused Palestinian security forces of having become “repressive tools that practice terrorism against their own people instead of protecting their dignity and standing up to the (Israeli) occupation.”
The Hamas militant group blamed security forces and noted that al-Sabbagh was the sister of one of its fighters who died fighting with Israeli troops last year.
Later on Sunday, hundreds of people demonstrated in Jenin in support of the Palestinian security forces, organized by the Fatah party that dominates the Palestinian Authority.
Violence has erupted in the West Bank since the Hamas attack from Gaza on October 7, 2023, sparked the war there. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.
Israeli report details abuse of hostages held in Gaza
The October 7 attack killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250, including women, children and the elderly. Around 100 hostages remain inside Gaza and at least a third are believed dead.
Israel's Health Ministry released a report Saturday night detailing what it said was widespread physical, psychological and sexual abuse against people who had been detained in Gaza.
The report, based on the findings of doctors who treated some of the more than 100 hostages released during the ceasefire last year, said the captives – including children – had been subjected to “severe physical and sexual abuse, including beatings, isolation and food deprivation”. and water, brands, hair pulling and sexual assault.”
The findings, which will be sent to the United Nations, could increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire and the release of hostages with Hamas. The hostages' families and their supporters have held massive demonstrations for months, and diplomats have reported recent progress in the long-running indirect talks.
Attack on hospital in Gaza City kills 7 people
An Israeli attack on the upper floor of Wafa Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday killed at least seven people and injured several more, according to Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-led government. Israel's military said it attacked a Hamas control center inside the building, which it said no longer served as a hospital.
And an attack near Nuseirat in central Gaza killed eight people and wounded more than 15, according to officials at Al-Awda Hospital.
Meanwhile, Israel's military said militants fired five projectiles from northern Gaza into Israel, the second time in two days, adding that two were intercepted and the rest likely fell in open areas. Sderot municipality said three people were slightly injured while heading to shelters. Rockets from northern Gaza had been rare in recent months as Israel's military increased operations there.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. They say women and children account for more than half of the deaths, but do not distinguish between militants and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel's bombing and ground operations have displaced around 90 percent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Vast areas, including entire neighborhoods, are in ruins and critical infrastructure destroyed.
Israeli restrictions, fighting and the breakdown of law and order have hampered the delivery of humanitarian aid, raising fears of famine, while starvation has left people at greater risk of illness and death.
