A group of 28 premature babies were evacuated from al-Shifa hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip and taken to Egypt for emergency treatment as Palestinian officials say Israeli forces attacked another hospital in the northern Gaza.
The newborns were patients at al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest medical center, where several others died after their incubators stopped working due to lack of fuel as medical services collapsed during the assault land and air force of the Israeli army over Gaza City.
The babies were transported to the Al-Helal L-Emirati maternity ward in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday so that their condition could be stabilized before making the journey to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Monday.
“Three babies are still in the UAE hospital and continue to receive treatment,” a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) told the Reuters news agency.
“All babies struggle with serious infections and continue to need health care. »
Last week, Israeli forces seized al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, to search what they say is a network of tunnels and a Hamas command center built beneath the compound. Hamas has denied the allegations.
During the Israeli operation, hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced people left al-Shifa over the weekend and settled in the southern Gaza Strip.
Since al-Shifa doctors raised the alarm about the situation at the hospital for premature babies and the lack of clean water and medicine in the neonatal ward, eight infants have died, according to officials at the hospital.
Attack on Indonesian hospital
At another hospital in northern Gaza, at least 12 people were killed Monday by artillery fire and dozens were injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The ministry said hundreds of people were trapped at the facility, which was surrounded by Israeli tanks.
From the hospital, journalist Anas al-Sharif described the scenes inside as “chaotic.”
“There is an overwhelming state of panic among patients,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune. “The victims are piled up on the ground.”
The WHO chief said the UN agency was “appalled” by the attack on the Indonesian hospital.
“Health workers and civilians should never be exposed to such horror, especially inside a hospital,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
.@WHO is dismayed by the attack on the Indonesian hospital in #Gazawhich would have left 12 dead, including patients, and dozens injured, including serious cases, even potentially fatal.
Health workers and civilians should never be exposed to such horror, and…
– Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 20, 2023
Indonesia’s foreign minister condemned the attack on the hospital, built in 2016 and funded by Indonesia, and called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”
“All countries, especially those with close relations with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to urge Israel to end its atrocities,” Retno Marsudi said.
“We are very concerned about the fate of our colleagues and the fate of the injured and patients as well as the (displaced) people who could still (have) found refuge there. No ambulance can reach them and we fear that the injured will die,” said Nahed Abu Taaema, director of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.
Like most hospitals and clinics in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, the Indonesian hospital has largely ceased operations but is housing patients, staff and displaced people who sought refuge at the site after Israel launched its attack on Gaza last month.
As fighting continues between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza, U.S. and Israeli officials said a Qatar-brokered deal to release some of the captives held in the Palestinian enclave and temporarily suspend fighting for enabling the delivery of aid to stricken civilians was getting closer.
Around 240 hostages were taken during a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to Israeli counts.
After the attack, Israel vowed to overthrow the armed group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, and launched a devastating bombing and ground offensive on Gaza.
At least 13,000 Palestinians were killed, including at least 5,500 children, according to Palestinian officials.