The United Nations they are looking for ways to evacuate it Al Shifa Hospital at Gaza Strip but the options are few and far between limitations on matters relating to security and transport procedures, he said today senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO).

One obstacle is that the Palestinian Red Crescent does not have sufficient fuel for its ambulances inside Gaza to evacuate patients, WHO regional emergency management director Rick Brennan told Reuters.

Egypt is open to the possibility of its ambulances entering Gaza to help evacuate civilians as long as guarantees of safety and unimpeded passage are given, he said from Cairo.

As far as the WHO knows, there are still about 600 patients, including 27 in critical condition at Shifa Hospital, where Israeli forces entered this week after a days-long siege, Brennan said.

“We are looking at the case of a full evacuation but there are many concerns, there are many restrictions on the transfer process. Our options are pretty limited but we hope to have some better news in the next 24 hours,” he said.

Those who will be prioritized for removal will be critically ill patients and 36 newborn infants, who lost access to incubators due to a lack of fuel for electricity, he said.

Evacuation plans are complicated by the fact that most of the time there is no communication with the hospital, Brennan said.

“The idea is that we will bring the majority of patients within days or weeks from Sifa,” he added.

“We will bring the majority of them to hospitals in southern Gaza but those hospitals are already overcrowded so this is another complicating factor. The other option is of course to bring some of them to Egypt.”