Red Crescent and UN: 31 premature babies evacuated from Shifa hospital Reports: Houthi rebels likely hijack cargo ships and take hostages

On Sunday, 31 premature babies were evacuated from the controversial Shifa hospital in Gaza. The Red Crescent emergency service said they were taken in ambulances to the south of the Gaza Strip. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the babies were taken to the intensive care unit of the Emirati Al-Hilal Hospital maternity ward. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus showed a UN worker wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet lifting a small baby on Platform X, formerly Twitter.

Tedros said further evacuations of the remaining critically ill patients at Shifa Hospital are planned. However, this requires security guarantees from the conflicting parties.

WHO officials described conditions at Shifa hospital as devastating after an initial visit on Saturday. At the entrance they saw a mass grave in which, according to Shifa staff, more than 80 people were buried. Due to the fighting around the hospital complex, staff were no longer able to remove the waste, which therefore accumulated in the corridors and in front of the doors. The WHO spoke of a ‘death zone’.

According to WHO officials, a total of 25 employees and 291 patients were still in hospital. In addition to the babies, two people were in intensive care without ventilation because there was no electricity. Other patients sometimes have serious fractures, amputations and burns. 29 had spinal cord injuries. Many patients developed infections because wounds became infected in the unsanitary atmosphere and the hospital ran out of antibiotics.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila on Saturday called on Israel to transfer “left behind” patients at Shifa Hospital, including premature babies, to other clinics.

Israeli soldiers have been deployed in and around the clinic for days – despite international criticism of the military action in a hospital. Israel accuses the Islamist Hamas of using the hospital for terrorist purposes and operating a command center beneath the buildings. Hamas denies this. (sda/dpa)