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)

Three more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed, including one outside the main cluster in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping a resurgent pest that could devastate the nation's cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The screwworm is actually a fly larva that eats living flesh instead of dead material. The flies lay their eggs in open wounds of animals like cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested. The government has a program to breed sterile male flies and drop swarms of them from planes to mate with wild females, which kept screwworm contained at the southern end of Panama for decades.

So far, there are five confirmed cases: three calves and a goat in Texas and a dog from neighboring Lea County, New Mexico. The small dog, which the USDA initially reported as a Texas case, lives in New Mexico and was reclassified as the first in that state.

The dog had not traveled to Mexico or Texas, so authorities were investigating around the property where the pet lived. If they find infected flies, animal inspections in the area will increase, New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck said during a virtual news conference Monday.

The first two screwworm cases were discovered last week in calves a few miles apart in south Texas. A case was announced Monday in a calf in La Salle County, southwest of San Antonio, and in a goat in Gillespie County, west of Austin.

In each case, officials have set up a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone to try to slow the parasite's advance.

Along with cattle and other warm-blooded livestock, scientists worry screwworms could devastate the millions of wild white-tailed deer in Texas.

Scientists expect new cases could pop up in the coming days and weeks, but it doesn't mean screwworm is spreading rapidly, said Edward Burgess, a University of Florida entomologist who studies the fly.

“When that first case is seen, everyone is being vigilant and their eyes are on it more intensely,” Burgess said. “And when you are looking for something, you are more likely to see it.”

Screwworm gets its name from the maggots’ habit of burrowing — or screwing — into a wound, according to the USDA. The pest eats the flesh of the animal, further opening wounds and increasing the risk of deadly bacterial infections. Animals can die within a few weeks if not treated. There are a dozen government-approved medications to treat livestock.

The agency and the U.S. cattle industry have been racing to prevent an outbreak since screwworm was detected in Mexico late in 2024. The USDA has been dropping sterile flies in south Texas since February and is working to both increase sterile fly production in plants outside the U.S. and build a $750 million fly factory in Texas.

So far, screwworm's reappearance hasn’t greatly affected beef prices, which are already near record levels because there are fewer cows in the United States. Although the parasite attacks live cattle, it does not infest meat or fruit.

Canada temporarily stopped importing cattle, horses or other livestock from Texas on Friday. The parasites prefer humid areas where temperatures are at least 77 F (25 C), making them more of a summer problem up north.

Burgess said the long-term solution — breeding sterile male flies — is months away. Since wild female flies mate just once, if that encounter is with a sterile male, outbreaks can eventually be halted as the flies die out.

The goal is to have enough sterile flies to stop the pests from returning in 2027 after the winter kills off most of them, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a news conference at the U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas.

Scientists are also working on ways to sterilize only male flies to make the program even more effective.

Texas officials encouraged ranchers to keep a close eye on their herds and local wildlife. There's now a 24-hour screwworm hotline and a website and map for reported cases.

“This is a highly treatable condition if you act on it immediately,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said.

However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller — who lost the recent Republican primary to a candidate backed by Abbott — said the federal response will take too long and risks crippling the cattle industry.

Instead, he says a poison bait could eliminate the screwworm problem in a few months, even if the USDA and other experts say the bait hasn’t been proven effective and could poison other flies, animals and even humans.

“What the hell is a good fly?” Miller said in an interview.

This story has been updated to reflect that the USDA revised the dog screwworm case to New Mexico, not Texas as the agency initially reported, and to correct the spelling of Kerrville.

Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Signage is seen as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins holds a news conference at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, center, holds a news conference with ranchers, researchers and officials at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A ranchers arrivse for a news conference with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FILE - A test container of dyed fly pupae are displayed at a Domestic New World Screwworm Sterile Fly Production Facility to combat the northward spread of NWS and protect American livestock, in Edinburg, Texas, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - An adult New World screwworm fly sits in this undated photo. (Denise Bonilla/U.S. Department of Agriculture via AP)