The Gaza Health Ministry reported that five injured patients died on Saturday at the hospital due to a power outage, including a premature baby in an incubator. The hospital has been plunged into darkness due to the lack of fuel to run generators, according to the Health Ministry and the hospital’s administrator.
Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the hospital’s director, stated that surgeries and kidney dialysis had to stop, and the neonatal unit was in a dire situation. He also mentioned that a baby died due to the lack of oxygen, electricity, and heat.
The Health Ministry, doctors, and witnesses inside the territory claimed that Israeli tanks and troops have surrounded several hospitals in the area and have attacked them, with snipers occasionally firing off shots. The Israeli military denied the siege or shooting at Al-Shifa but confirmed clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas in the area.
The Israeli military accused Hamas of operating an underground command center below Al-Shifa, using it as a shield. However, the hospital’s administration and Hamas denied this. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, stated that the Israeli military does not fire on hospitals, but would respond if Hamas terrorists were firing from hospitals.
Yousef Abu al-Rish, the head of the Health Ministry in Gaza, reported that Palestinians managed to evacuate four hospitals adjacent to one another in northern Gaza after resisting for days as Israeli forces advanced. Patients were forced out into the streets and dispersed.
An Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, mentioned that Israeli forces had called for hospitals to evacuate in northern Gaza for weeks. After three days, Israel changed tactics and surrounded the children’s hospital while opening a safe corridor for people to leave.
The dire conditions in Gaza City are partly a result of an Israeli siege that has cut off water, food, electricity, and fuel for weeks. The siege was imposed after Hamas attacked Israel, according to Israeli authorities.
