28 premature babies evacuated from IDF-raided Gaza hospital to Egypt

A total of 28 premature infants evacuated from the besieged Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza have been sent to Egypt for treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

They were taken to the Al Arish Hospital in North Sinai bordering Gaza.

From there, 12 were flown to Cairo for further treatment.

Three premature babies evacuated from Al Shifa were treated at the Emirati Hospital in southern Gaza.

“All babies are fighting serious infections and other conditions and need specialised medical care,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X, formerly Twitter.

He said the evacuation mission was led by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, an organisation supported by WHO.

The babies were among the hundreds of patients at Gaza’s largest hospital, which has come under attack by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Targeting a medical facility is a war crime, but the IDF said Hamas is using the hospital as a command centre, making it a legitimate target.

It said it found some weapons and a tunnel at Al Shifa Hospital.

Hamas has denied this and urged independent international bodies to inspect the hospital to verify the IDF’s claims.

Four babies died

Al Jazeera earlier reported that 39 premature babies had to be taken out of their incubators after the hospital ran out of fuel to generate electricity following an IDF raid.

Doctors said four babies died during the raid, the broadcaster reported.

Dr Ahmed Mokhallalati, head of the hospital’s plastic surgery department, said 43 out of 63 intensive care patients died after oxygen supply in the intensive care units ran out, US broadcaster ABC News reported.

On Saturday, the IDF ordered doctors, patients, and displaced persons sheltering at the hospital compound to evacuate, forcing some to leave at gunpoint, Al Jazeera reported.

However, the WHO said many patients were in critical condition and could not move due to their injuries.

Local health officials said some 11,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombardment of Gaza, of which about half are children.

Some 1,400 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7, while more than 200 people were taken hostage.

Israeli rep shouts at hostages’ families

Meanwhile, In Jerusalem, family members of hostages were reportedly “shouted at” by members of the Israeli house of representatives - the Knesset - during a committee hearing, the Times of Israel reported.

The committee was discussing a controversial bill to impose the death penalty on terrorists - a move families of hostages feel could have severe consequences for their loved ones still held by Hamas.

Knesset National Security Committee chairperson MK Tzvika Fogel reportedly shouted at a man, whose wife and daughter are among the hostages, and told him he had “no mandate over pain”.

Fogel also said those trying to stop the bill were “representing Hamas”.

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