THEi lives of 36 newborns at the hospital al Shifa of Gaza they were hanging by a thread todayaccording to medical staff there who said there was no clear mechanism for their movement other than an attempt by Israel to provide incubators for an evacuation.

Three out of 39Firstly, infants born prematurely have already died after Gaza’s largest hospital ran out of fuel over the weekend to power the generators that kept the incubators running.

The Gaza Strip has been under a full Israeli blockade since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7. The Israeli ground offensive that followed brought the fighting to the streets around the hospital in central Gaza City, in the northern part of the Strip.

The 36 newborns, weighing less than 1.5 kilograms and some as little as 700 to 800 grams, are now placed next to each other in regular beds, exposed to contamination and without any individual adjustments to humidity and temperature levels, staff said .

“Luckily, there are still 36, we didn’t lose anyone overnight,” Dr. Ahmed el Mohatalali, a surgeon, told Reuters by phone. “But the risks are still very high… We still run the risk of losing them.”

The Israeli military said earlier today that it was coordinating the transfer of incubators to the Gaza Strip in a move to allow the removal of the newborns. He posted on social media a photo of a soldier unloading incubators from a van.

The military also posted a video showing Sani Sasson, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense Ministry’s liaison office dealing with Palestinian political affairs, standing in front of incubators and saying an official offer of aid had been made.

“Extensive efforts are underway to ensure that these incubators right here behind me can get the babies to Gaza without delay,” he said in the video.

An Israeli official involved in the effort, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said three available incubators had been delivered by Israeli hospitals.

“The intention is to enable the safe removal of newborns. From our understanding, Shifa does not have the necessary transportable incubators for this,” the official said, adding that incubators are on standby outside Gaza just in case. where their delivery will be agreed upon.

Photos released by the military show conventional transportable incubators, said Arthur Edelman, a professor of pediatrics and neonatology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“They are battery operated, which allowed them to run for two hours. They also have the option of plugging into an ambulance power source,” he said.

“There is no clear mechanism”

The military has not said what steps it will take to enable the removal of the newborns amid heavy airstrikes and ongoing fighting in the area of ​​al-Shifa hospital.

A spokesman for the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said there was no objection to removing the newborns, but said there was no mechanism to do so.

Many Gaza hospitals, such as al-Shifa, have also stopped operating due to lack of fuel and supplies, or are already overflowing with patients and wounded from the fighting.

“We have no objection to the babies being transferred to any hospital, in Egypt, the West Bank or even the hospitals of the occupying power [σ.σ. του Ισραήλ]. What we care about most is the lives of these babies and that they are well,” Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kinda said by phone from the hospital. “Until now there is no clear mechanism.”

Israel maintains the hospital is not under siege and says its forces are offering exit routes to those inside. Medical staff and officials at the hospital say those trying to leave are being shot at. Reuters cannot independently confirm the claims.

Mohatalali said he was aware of efforts to save the babies but did not know the details.

“Someone asked us to get the names of the babies and how many there are. But no real action on the ground. So we don’t know how serious these efforts are to remove these babies,” he said.

The Israeli military has released audio of what it says is a conversation between a high-ranking officer from Israel’s Coordination and Liaison Command and the director-general of al-Shifa hospital, in Arabic with English subtitles.

In it the official talks about placing an incubator at the hospital gate, without detailing how or when this will happen. The general manager says that would help, adding that four ventilators for children are also needed.

The official says he will see what he can do to help. The general manager replies that all the wards in the hospital need help.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas after the group’s militants stormed communities in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to Israeli figures. His counter-offensive has killed at least 11,000 people in Gaza so far.