Palestinian medics care for premature babies evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital to the Emirates hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Abed / AFP)
Update: 11pm Doha time
The 31 newborns evacuated from Al-Shifa to Tal al-Sultan hospital in Rafah will be taken to Egypt on Monday, says Mohamed Zaqout, director of Gaza hospitals.
“They’ll go to Egypt for more specialised care,” he added.
The babies suffered from dehydration, vomiting, hypothermia and some had sepsis because they hadn’t received medication and had not been in “suitable conditions for them to stay alive”, Zaqout said.
Four babies died before the evacuation, he added.
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The most vulnerable patients at Al-Shifa Hospital – dozens of prematurely born babies in critical condition – have been evacuated to the south of the Gaza Strip.
Of the 39 babies who had been left without incubators when Al-Shifa Hospital was left short of fuel and medical supplies after Israeli forces raided on Wednesday, 31 have made it out. The babies were on their way to southern Gaza hospitals.
“All 31 premature babies in Al-Shifa Hospital have been evacuated along with three doctors and two nurses, and preparations are under way for them to enter Egypt," said Mohammed Zaqout, director-general of hospitals in Gaza.
The World Health Organization has led a second UN and @PalestineRCS mission to Al-Shifa Hospital in #Gaza today. 31 very sick babies were evacuated, along with 6 health workers and 10 staff family members, said #WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X.
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) November 19, 2023
➡️https://t.co/v1RtieHNfB pic.twitter.com/CXhQ4A7o1c
The babies were transferred to the south of Gaza “in preparation for their transfer to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah,” the PRCS said.
Six Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances transported them, in an effort coordinated with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the group said in a post on its Facebook page.
A WHO team that visited the hospital on Saturday reported that there were still hundreds of patients there, including many in extremely critical condition, trauma patients with severely infected wounds, and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move.
“Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation,” the agency said, describing Al-Shifa as a death zone.
