Gaza’s 20-day-old baby dies of hypothermia as Palestinians seek winter shelter
A fourth baby has died of hypothermia in Gaza, where nearly 15 months of war has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced and preparing for the winter.
Jomaa al-Batran, 20 days old, was found early Sunday with a head “as cold as ice,” his father Yehia said.
The baby’s twin brother, Ali, was transferred to the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
The boy’s father said they were born a month premature and spent just one day in the hospital, which like other medical centers in Gaza was overwhelmed and operating only partially.
20-day-old baby Ali al-Batran lies in the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah on December 29, 2024 – Abdel Kareem Hana/Associated Press Copyright 2024. all rights reserved.
He said doctors told their mothers to keep their newborns warm, but that was impossible because they lived in tents and temperatures often dropped below 10 degrees Celsius at night.
Children, some of them barefoot, stood outside and watched as the baby wrapped in a shroud was placed at the feet of the imam for prayers.
Local health officials in Gaza say at least three other babies have died from colds in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.
Israeli report details hostage abuses in Gaza
Meanwhile, Israel’s Health Ministry has released a report detailing alleged widespread physical, psychological and sexual abuse, based on doctors who were among the more than 100 hostages released from Gaza during last November’s ceasefire. Treatment results.
The report said captives, including children, were subjected to severe abuse such as “beatings, isolation, deprivation of food and water, branding, hair pulling and sexual assault.”
According to the report, one hostage described being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by a Hamas militant. “The kidnappers repeatedly forced women of all ages to strip naked while others, including the kidnappers, watched.” .
Israelis protest against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024 and call for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza – Ariel Schalit/Associated Press Copyright 2024. all rights reserved.
“People like to keep silent and say it didn’t happen. It did,” former hostage Aviva Siegel told The Associated Press.
She said she saw others threatened with guns and beaten, and she was also physically assaulted.
The findings will be presented to the United Nations and could increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas and release hostages.
On October 7 last year, Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking at least 250 hostages and taking them back to Gaza.
Israeli officials say Hamas still holds about 100 people, but about a third are believed dead.
More attacks in Gaza
An Israeli attack on Gaza City’s Wafa hospital killed at least seven people and injured many others, according to the Civil Defense Forces, which is affiliated with the Hamas government.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas control center inside the building, which is no longer used as a hospital.
An attack near Nuserat in central Gaza killed eight people and injured more than 15, according to Al-Awda hospital officials.
The Israeli military said militants fired five artillery shells from northern Gaza for the second time in two days, adding that two of them were intercepted and the rest may have landed in open areas.
