Israel-Gaza war: Death toll in Gaza's largest hospital rises as Israel's attacks continue
Gaza - A premature baby and two patients have died in Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, the local health ministry said Monday, bringing the toll to six babies and nine patients as the facility suffered fuel shortages.
The hospital, Gaza's largest, has suffered energy shortages for days amid a deadly Israeli siege.
Youssef Abu Rish, deputy health minister in the Palestinian territory, also told AFP that all the hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are "out of service."
Conditions are worsening for hundreds of patients and thousands of others sheltering in Al-Shifa, which has become a flashpoint in the war that has raged for more than five weeks.
Israel pledged on Saturday to help evacuate babies from the facility, but that has not happened as the hospital remains caught in Israel's ground offensive.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also said ground soldiers had hand-delivered 300 liters of fuel to the hospital "for urgent medical purposes" and claimed that Hamas prevented the hospital from taking it.
Al-Shifa director Mohammad Abu Salmiya contested the Israeli claims. He told AFP the Israeli army called him and said the fuel would be dropped off 500 meters from Al-Shifa.
"I told them 'if you want to help, I need at least 8,000 liters to run the main generators and save hundreds of patients and injured,'" he said.
"They refused and we no longer have any idea" of the status of the fuel that was dropped off, he added.
Israel is facing intense international pressure to minimize civilian suffering amid a massive air and ground operation that Hamas authorities say has already killed more than 11,000 people, including thousands of children.
Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed the militarized border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages. The attacks came after decades of Israeli occupation and oppression of Palestinians.
Dire situation in Gaza stokes international concern
International attention has focused on the plight of Palestinians, and protests have been held worldwide in solidarity with the 2.4 million under bombardment and siege for more than five weeks.
Only a few hundred trucks carrying humanitarian aid had been let into Gaza since October 7, with Israel voicing concerns fuel deliveries would be used by Hamas militants.
Almost 1.6 million people – about two-thirds of Gaza's population – have been internally displaced since October 7, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.
Across Gaza City at the Al-Quds hospital the picture was also said to be dire, with the Palestinian Red Crescent warning it was now out of service due to a lack of generator fuel.
Tens of thousands of Gazans have already fled from the north of the territory under Israeli orders.
But it is unclear what, if any, provisions there would be for the sick and injured to be transported from Al-Shifa.
Israel's military said it would observe a "self-evacuation corridor" Monday, allowing people to move from Al-Shifa southward, but admitted the area was still the scene of "intense battles."
The area of fighting "currently includes the area surrounding the Shifa hospital but not the hospital itself," an IDF spokesperson told AFP.
Cover photo: Khader Al Zanoun / AFP