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Neonatal babies at Al-Shifa are in "severe danger," director general of Gaza hospitals says
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi
Neonatal babies in Gaza's largest hospital are in "severe danger" as conditions in the medical facility further deteriorate, the director general of Gaza hospitals told Al Jazeera.
“On evacuating the (Al-Shifa) hospital … we have said numerous times there is no place to move 40 incubators outside the hospital,” Mohammad Zaqout said.
CNN could not independently confirm his assessment of the situation. But earlier this week, pictures released by the hospital showed
newborn babies taken off incubators and placed next to each other on one bed due to power shortages amid Israel's bombardment and blockade in Gaza.
“We are in dire need of a field hospital (in Gaza City),” Zaqout told Al Jazeera.
The Egyptian health ministry is trying to coordinate the transfer of
36 neonatal babies with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar told CNN on Tuesday. He said Egypt has ambulances equipped with portable ventilators waiting on the border to receive the babies to be moved immediately to hospitals.
But Zaqout said “the mechanism (to transfer patients to Egypt) is extremely slow," claiming that "the transfer patient lists are getting rejected (by Israel)."
The Israel Defense Forces said it has offered to try to provide Al-Shifa Hospital with incubators and respirators for premature babies and children. On Wednesday, the IDF said the military had delivered incubators and medical supplies to the hospital. CNN is not on the ground and was unable to confirm that claim.
CNN has been unable to reach Al-Shifa Hospital due to a lack of communication access.
Israeli forces raided Gaza's biggest hospital in what the military said was a "precise and targeted operation." Soldiers found "military equipment used by Hamas," the military said in a statement but offered no evidence yet of a vast tunnel network it claimed was used by Hamas.
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