World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that 28 of the 31 newborns evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital are in Arish in Egypt. Twelve of them have already been transported to Cairo.
“Three babies continue to receive treatment at the Emarati Hospital in southern Gaza,” said Dr Tedros. “All babies are fighting serious infections and other conditions, and need specialised medical care.”
The newborns had been patients at Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest medical facility, where several others had died after their incubators stopped working for a lack of fuel as medical services collapsed during the Israeli military’s ground and air assault on the health facilities.
Since al-Shifa doctors have raised the alarm about the situation at the hospital for premature babies and the lack of clean water and medicines in the neonatal ward, eight infants have died, according to hospital officials.
As fighting continues between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza, US and Israeli officials said a Qatari-mediated deal to free some of the captives held in the Palestinian enclave and pause fighting temporarily to enable aid deliveries to stricken civilians was edging closer.
About 240 hostages were taken during a deadly assault on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7.
