Nov. 13 (UPI) — At least three premature babies died at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after an Israeli missile struck near the facility amid continuous bombing raids against the militant group Hamas after more than a month of war.
The resulting explosion overnight Saturday took out a backup generator that was powering Gaza’s largest hospital, leaving the facility in the dark and forcing doctors to rescue as many as 40 premature babies from incubators that were helping keep them alive.
Three of the infants died after the blast shut off the power, while another two adult patients died in the intensive care unit from injuries suffered in the blast, according to Ahmed Mokhallalati, chief of the plastic surgery department.
“The neo-nates — they are the ones we are afraid will be dying one by one as we were pushed to move them outside of the incubator area,” Mokhallalati told ABC News.
Without oxygen, the surviving infants were wrapped in foil and placed next to hot water to keep them breathing as doctors scrambled for alternative life-saving measures in the darkened corridors of the facility.
The situation intensified as critical units collapsed and the hospital was close to running out of medication and supplies.
The deteriorating conditions underscored the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the territory’s two largest medical facilities remained under siege amid the ongoing hostilities.
On Sunday, Gaza City’s Al-Quds Hospital also faced a “catastrophic situation” with power outages and medication, food and water shortages as Israeli ground battles and air strikes continued, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
The international community has been putting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire agreement, which he has refused to do unless Hamas agrees to free hundreds of Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7.
Meanwhile, Hamas was engaged in counter operations over the weekend to prevent the remaining infants from being rescued and exert pressure on the hospital to deter them from accepting fuel and other medical assistance from Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces said.
By Sunday, Mokhallalati said ventilators at the hospital were back on while the continuing bombardment remains the most serious threat to more than 600 patients being cared for, and thousands more who were taking shelter at the facility due to the continuing conflict.
After the bombing, administrators at Al-Shifa Hospital immediately turned down 300 liters of fuel from the IDF, which Mokhallalati described as insufficient, saying it wouldn’t have powered the hospital for more than an hour.
There was also no safe passage from the heavily damaged facility as Hamas forces have reportedly opened fire on those who tried to flee the scene on foot.
Speaking at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, European Union Foreign Affairs chief Josep Borrell said the 27-nation bloc was united in calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to help those trapped in Gaza, while expressing continuing concerns about Israel not allowing water, fuel, food and supplies to come into Gaza.
“We asked Israel to show maximum restraint in order to save civilian lives,” he said, while also condemning Hamas for using hospitals in the region as “human shields” to leverage its goals in the war.
Earlier Monday, the IDF said it planned a tactical pause in military operations in the city of Rafah for humanitarian purposes, and that it had opened a new evacuation corridor to allow northern coastal civilians in Gaza to move south through Salah Al-Din.
The IDF also accused Hamas of attempting to block the evacuation route, with Israeli units listening for any signs of sabotage to the operation.