A fourth infant dies of the winter cold in Gaza as families share blankets in seaside tents

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A fourth infant has died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war huddle in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter arrives.

Jomaa al-Batran, 20 days old, was found with his head as “cold as ice” early Sunday, his father, Yehia, said. The baby's twin brother, Ali, was moved to intensive care at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Their father said they were born one month premature and spent just a day in the nursery at the hospital, which like other Gaza health centers is overwhelmed and only partially functioning.

He said medics told their mother to keep the newborns warm, but it was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures regularly drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) 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 overnight. “Look at his color because (of) the cold. Do you see how frozen he is?”

Children, some of them barefoot, stood outdoors and watched him mourn. The shrouded infant was laid at the feet of an imam for prayers. Then the imam took off his ankle-length coat 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.

The Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250, including women, children and older adults. Around 100 are still inside Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.

Israel’s Health Ministry released a report late Saturday detailing what it called widespread physical, psychological and sexual abuse, based on findings of doctors who treated some of the over 100 hostages released during a ceasefire last year. It said the captives — including children — had been subjected to severe abuse such as "beatings, isolation, deprivation of food and water, branding, hair-pulling and sexual assault.”

The report said one hostage described being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by a Hamas militant, and "on several occasions, captors forced women of all ages to undress while others, including the captors, watched.”

Former hostage Aviva Siegel told the AP that “people like to keep it quiet and say it didn’t happen. It happened.” She said she had watched others being threatened with a gun and beaten and that she had been physically assaulted.

The findings, to be sent to the United Nations, could increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release with Hamas. Families of hostages and supporters have held mass demonstrations for months, and diplomats have reported progress in the indirect talks.

A Palestinian woman was shot and killed in her home in the volatile West Bank town of Jenin, where the Palestinian Authority this month launched a rare campaign against militants.

The family of Shatha al-Sabbagh, a 22-year-old journalism student, said she was killed by a sniper with the Palestinian security forces late Saturday while she was with her mother and two children. They said there had been no militants in the area.

A Palestinian security forces statement said she was shot by “outlaws” — the term it uses for local militants battling Israeli forces. The security forces condemned the shooting and vowed to investigate.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is unpopular among Palestinians, largely because it cooperates with Israel on security matters, even as Israel accuses it of incitement and of generally turning a blind eye to militancy.

The al-Sabbagh family's statement accused the Palestinian security forces of being “repressive tools that practice terrorism against their own people instead of protecting their dignity and standing up to the (Israeli) occupation.”

Hamas blamed the security forces and noted that al-Sabbagh was the sister of one of its fighters who was killed fighting with Israeli troops last year.

Later Sunday, hundreds of people demonstrated in support of the Palestinian security forces, organized by the Fatah party that dominates the Palestinian Authority.

Violence has flared in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state.

An Israeli strike on Wafa Hospital in Gaza City killed at least seven people and wounded several others, according to the Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government. Israel's military said it struck a Hamas control center inside the building, which it said no longer served as a hospital.

A strike near Nuseirat in central Gaza killed eight and wounded over 15, according to Al-Awda Hospital officials.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said militants launched five projectiles from northern Gaza, the second time in two days, saying two were intercepted and the rest likely fell in open areas. The Sderot municipality said three people were lightly injured on their way to shelters. Rockets from northern Gaza were rare in recent months as Israel's military increased operations there.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. They say women and children make up more than half the deaths but don't distinguish between militants and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel's bombardment and ground operations have displaced some 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Vast areas are in ruins, with critical infrastructure destroyed.

Israeli restrictions, fighting and the breakdown of law and order have hindered aid delivery, raising fears of famine. Hunger leaves people at greater risk of disease and death.

Mohammed reported from Jenin, West Bank. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Eleanor Reich in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Relatives mourn the death of Palestinian Shatha al-Sabbagh, a 22-year-old journalism student, during her funeral in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians hold yellow Fatah movement flags as they demonstrate in support of the Palestinian security forces in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Relatives mourn as the body of Palestinian Shatha al-Sabbagh, a 22-year-old journalism student, is carried out of her family home during her funeral in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Imam Islam Abu Suaied holds the body of 20-day-old Jomaa al-Batran , who died from hypothermia, before the funeral at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Jomaa's twin brother, Ali, remains in intensive care, as local health officials report at least three other infant deaths from the cold in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Ali al-Batran, a 20-day-old infant, lies in the intensive care unit with hypothermia at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. His twin brother, Jomaa, has died, as local health officials report at least three other infant deaths from the cold in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Yehia al-Batran grieves as he holds the body of his 20-day-old son Jomaa, who died from hypothermia, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Jomaa's twin brother, Ali, remains in intensive care, as local health officials report at least three other infant deaths from the cold in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Yehia al-Batran grieves as he holds the body of his 20-day-old son Jomaa, who died from hypothermia, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Jomaa's twin brother, Ali, remains in intensive care, as local health officials report at least three other infant deaths from the cold in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Yehia al-Batran grieves as he holds the body of his 20-day-old son Jomaa, who died from hypothermia, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Jomaa's twin brother, Ali, remains in intensive care, as local health officials report at least three other infant deaths from the cold in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Ali al-Batran, a 20-day-old infant, lies in the intensive care unit with hypothermia at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. His twin brother, Jomaa, has died, as local health officials report at least three other infant deaths from the cold in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Imam Islam Abu Suaied prays over the bodies of two babies before their burial at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. One baby died at birth, while the other, 20-day-old Jomaa al-Batran, succumbed to hypothermia. According to local health officials, at least three other babies in Gaza have died from the cold in recent weeks.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

HONOLULU (AP) — Harry Chandler, a Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base, has died. He was 103.

Chandler died Monday at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida, according to Ron Mahaffee, the husband of his granddaughter Kelli Fahey. Chandler had congestive heart failure, but Mahaffee said doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving a cause of death.

The third Pearl Harbor survivor to die in the past few weeks, Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd class on Dec. 7, 1941, when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor and plunged the U.S. into World War II.

He told The Associated Press in 2023 that he saw the planes approach as he was raising the flag that morning at a mobile hospital in Aiea Heights, which is in the hills overlooking the base.

“I thought they were planes coming in from the states until I saw the bombs dropping,” Chandler said. His first instinct was to take cover and ”get the hell out of here.”

“I was afraid that they’d start strafing,” he said.

His unit rode trucks down to attend the injured. He said in a Pacific Historic Parks oral history interview that he boarded a boat to help pluck wounded sailors from the water.

The harbor was covered in oil from exploding ships, so Chandler washed the sailors off after lifting them out. He said he was too focused on his work to be afraid.

“It got so busy you weren't scared. Weren’t scared at all. We were busy. It was after you got scared,” Chandler said.

He realized later that he could have been killed, “But you didn’t think about that while you were busy taking care of people.”

The attack killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. Nearly half, or 1,177, were sailors and Marines on board the USS Arizona, which sank nine minutes after it was bombed.

Chandler's memories came flowing back when he visited Pearl Harbor for a 2023 ceremony commemorating the 82nd anniversary of the bombing.

“I look out there, and I can still see what’s going on. I can still see what was happening,” Chandler told The Associated Press.

Asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, he said: “Be prepared.”

“We should have known that was going to happen. The intelligence has to be better,” he said.

After the war Chandler worked as a painter and wallpaper hanger and bought an upholstery business with his brother. He also joined the Navy reserves, retiring as a senior chief in 1981.

Chandler was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and lived for most of his adult life in nearby South Hadley, Mahaffee said. In recent decades he split his time between Massachusetts and Florida.

An avid golfer, he shot five hole-in-ones during his lifetime, his grandson-in-law added.

Chandler had one biological daughter and adopted two daughters from his second marriage, to Anna Chandler, who died in 2004. He is survived by two daughters, nine grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

Military historian J. Michael Wenger has estimated that there were some 87,000 military personnel on the island of Oahu the day of the attack. With Chandler’s death only 15 are still living, according to a tally maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.

Bob Fernandez, who served on the USS Curtiss, also died this month, at age 100, and Warren Upton, 105, who served on the USS Utah, died last week.

——

This story has been corrected to show that Chandler was survived by two daughters, not one.

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., attends the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - From left, Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, from left, Ken Stevens, Herb Elfring and Ira "Ike" Schab salute while the national anthem is played during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, 102, left, and Herb Elfring, 101, talk during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., leaves the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Harry Chandler, 102, of Tequesta, Fla., speaks to the media during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)