Premature baby in mortal danger
Israel evacuates babies from Al-Shifa hospital
November 11, 2023, 11:07 p.m
Fierce fighting is raging between Israeli soldiers and Hamas in the area around Al-Shifa Hospital. Hundreds of patients are in danger; Israel wants to help evacuate infants to a safe clinic.
The Israeli army has announced its assistance in evacuating infants from the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The clinic’s staff asked the military “that we help take the babies in the pediatric ward to a safer hospital tomorrow,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. “We will provide the necessary support.”
The Israeli medical organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel had previously reported that two premature babies had died due to power outages in the neonatology intensive care unit at Al-Shifa Hospital, and 37 other premature babies were “in real danger of their lives.”
Surgeon Mohammed Obeid confirmed the deaths of the two newborns and reported that an adult patient also died when his ventilator failed. “We want someone to give us a guarantee that they can evacuate the patients, because we have about 600 hospitalized patients,” he said in an audio message released by the aid group Doctors Without Borders.
Witnesses at the hospital told the AFP news agency on the phone that there was continuous gunfire, air strikes and artillery fire near the hospital complex. Gunshots and explosions could be heard throughout the day via an AFP live camera installed near the hospital.
According to a doctor, the largest clinic in the Gaza Strip is out of operation. “There is no electricity anymore,” said Al-Shifa Hospital doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta. Rockets also hit the site. “The majority of staff have left the hospital.” The injured people who could have left. According to him, seriously injured people are still being cared for by a core medical team. The information cannot yet be independently verified.
Hospitals as hideouts and command centers
Israel repeatedly accuses the radical Islamic Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, of using hospitals as hideouts and command centers and of abusing civilians as human shields, which the militant Palestinian organization denies.
With its massive attacks in the densely populated Gaza Strip, the Israeli army is responding to the unprecedented attack on Israel by the radical Islamic group Hamas. Hundreds of Islamists entered Israel on October 7th and committed atrocities mostly against civilians, including many children. According to updated Israeli figures, 1,200 people were killed in Israel and more than 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Israel then declared war on Hamas, which the USA and the EU classified as a terrorist organization, and targeted Palestinian organization targets in the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas information, which cannot be independently verified, more than 11,000 people have been killed since then, including 4,500 children.