UNICEF Warns Babies In Gaza City Incubators Threatened With Increased Israeli Attacks

Illustration of babies in Gaza. (Source: WAFA)

JAKARTA - The UN children's charity on Monday called for an immediate evacuation to save at least 25 sick or premature babies in an incubator in Gaza City as Israel stepped up its ground attacks, shooting a hospital overnight housing about half of them.

Palestinian health officials say tanks are surrounding an area near Aljuya Hospital where at least 12 babies are in the incubator.

Medical officers said the location was bombarded. Videos obtained by Reuters showed hospital rooms and beds there strewn in debris.

"It's time to move them because Gaza City is back into a combat zone, but where to move them? There is no safe place for them," UNICEF spokesman Ricardo Pires told Reuters.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The evacuation of the babies, mostly newborns, means transferring them to an emergency stroller, wrapped in blankets with portable oxygen and IVs, Pires said.

However, there are risks where they could be exposed to infection, changing temperatures, or supplies could run out during the transfer.

"Referring them seems like the best choice we have right now, but at the same time, it's very risky."

It is not clear which hospital can accept these babies, because many are damaged, overcrowded, and facing shortcomings.

Pires was in Gaza City last month where she saw one of the babies - a premature baby girl named Narges who, he said, had been removed from the womb of her mother who had died from being shot.

"We are very concerned not only about him, but also all the other babies," he said, adding efforts to contact his father and doctor since the shooting failed.

In Gaza City, the number of babies is more than incubators and some of them share, he said, adding that Israel has rejected some requests to import more.

Pires revealed that he saw four babies in one incubator last month.

It is known that hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been displaced by attacks on the northern region of hunger-hit Gaza, where the shortages are getting worse. Israel has stated it will not stop the fighting unless Hamas releases all hostages and surrenders permanently.