30 babies are evacuated from Shifa hospital in Gaza

2023-11-19 13:39:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

30 babies are evacuated from Shifa hospital in Gaza

Illustrative photo

At least 30 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza's main hospital on Sunday and will be transferred to Egypt, the territory's Health Ministry said, while dozens of other patients in critical condition remained in hospital, three days after forces Israelis entered the building of this health institution.

The fate of the newborn babies at Shifa hospital received global attention after images were released showing doctors trying to keep the babies warm. The power outage left incubators and other equipment out of order, while supplies of water, food and medicine ran out as Israeli forces battled outside the hospital building with Hamas, a Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the Union. European.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday visited Shifa Hospital and said 291 patients were still there, including 32 babies in extremely critical condition, patients with extremely infected wounds and those who have spinal injuries and are unable to move. .

Medhat Abbas, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Hamas-led Gaza, confirmed to the AP the evacuation of the babies, without giving further details. The WHO has not yet confirmed the evacuation of the babies.

About 2,500 displaced people, patients and medical staff were evacuated from Shifa hospital on Saturday, the WHO said, adding that 25 health staff are still staying with the patients.

Israel has long claimed that Hamas has a command center in and under Shifa. Israel has described the hospital as a key target in its fight to end Hamas rule in Gaza, following attacks by the extremist group in southern Israel six weeks ago that sparked the war.

Hamas and hospital staff deny these claims.

Over 11,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to figures provided by Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing and are believed to have been trapped under the rubble. In the casualty figures presented by the health authorities in Gaza, no distinction is made between civilians and Hamas fighters. Israel has said it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters.

Meanwhile, close to 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, most of them civilians, during the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Hamas has also taken nearly 240 hostages. The Israeli army has said that 52 soldiers were killed during the war./ Rel