Tel Aviv [Israel], November 15: The lives of 36 babies at Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital were hanging in the balance, according to medical staff there who said there was no clear mechanism to move them despite an Israeli effort to supply incubators for an evacuation.
Three of the original 39 premature babies have already died since Gaza's biggest hospital ran out of fuel at the weekend to power generators that had kept their incubators going.
The Gaza Strip has been under a total Israeli blockade since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. An Israeli ground incursion since then has brought fighting to streets around the hospital in the centre of Gaza City in the north of the strip.
The 36 babies, who weigh less than 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds) and with some as small as 700 to 800 grammes, were now lying side-by-side on ordinary beds, exposing them to infection and without any individual adjustments to humidity levels and temperatures, staff said.
"Luckily they are still 36, we didn't lose any of them overnight," Dr Ahmed El Mokhatallali, a surgeon, told Reuters by telephone from Al Shifa. "But still the risks are really high . We have still the risk of losing them."
Israel's military said earlier on Tuesday it was coordinating the transfer of incubators into the Gaza Strip in a step to allow the evacuation of the babies. It posted on social media an image of a soldier unloading incubators from a van.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation