Hospitals in Gaza said today they were under constant fire and without power as fighting between Israel and Hamas terrorists raged around them.
One baby in an incubator died and “dozens more” were at risk, according to the Palestinian-led Health Ministry, after fuel for generators at the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, ran out.
“We received calls about dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries in air and artillery strikes, but our ambulances could not get out because of gunfire,” said Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Shifa Hospital.
Israel has denied attacking hospitals, but the military has accused Hamas of using the medical facilities as command centers and shelters, an accusation the Palestinian militant group denies.
The suffering in Gaza has led to growing calls for an end to the five-week fighting to protect the lives of civilians and allow humanitarian aid in the densely populated area.
Hospitals in Gaza said today they were under constant fire and without power as fighting between Israel and Hamas terrorists raged around them. In the photo: patients at Al-Shifa Hospital
Israel has denied attacking hospitals, but the military has accused Hamas of using the medical facilities as command centers and shelters. Pictured: Patients resting at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City
French President Emmanuel Macron said Israel has the right to defend itself but urged the country to stop attacks on civilians in Gaza: “These babies, these ladies, these old people are being bombed and killed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that responsibility for any harm to civilians lies with Hamas.
“Israel is doing everything in its power to prevent harm to civilians and urges them to leave the battle areas,” he said.
As the fighting continued, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi – whose regime backs Hamas terrorists – said the time had come for “action, not words” on Gaza.
On his way to Saudi Arabia for a crisis summit between Arab and Muslim countries on the war, Raisi said: ‘Gaza is not an arena for words. It should be for action.”
Hamas terrorists crossed the border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostage.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says Israeli fighting has killed more than 11,000 people, including mostly civilians and thousands of children.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has said that Hamas has placed command centers under Shifa Hospital and others in Gaza, making them military targets.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Israel has the right to defend itself but urged the country to stop attacks on civilians in Gaza. In the photo: Patients are being treated at Al-Shifa Hospital
‘The hospitals must be evacuated to tackle Hamas. We intend to do business with Hamas which has turned hospitals into fortified positions,” it said when asked whether troops would enter Gaza hospitals.
Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group with a presence in Gaza, said on Saturday that its fighters were “engaged in heavy clashes near the Al-Shifa hospital complex” and other parts of Gaza City. (Israeli) enemy forces’.
Concerns about the civilian toll are also coming from Washington, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday: “Far too many Palestinians have been killed.”
The Israeli army fought all night in and around Gaza City with Hamas gunmen, according to local residents.
A Palestinian family sits near destroyed houses after an attack in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip
Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday in Salah al-Din Street in Bureij, Gaza Strip
This photo taken from the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip border on November 11, 2023, shows smoke rising over buildings during an Israeli attack on the Palestinian enclave
‘The situation is worse than anyone can imagine. We are under siege in the Al Shifa Medical Complex, and the occupation has attacked most of the buildings inside,” said Qidra, who represents the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank – separated from Gaza by Israel and led by the rival Hamas government – said separately 39 babies were at risk at the hospital.
Minister Mai Alkaila said: ’39 premature babies in Al-Shifa Medical Complex are threatened with death at any time, and one of them died this morning.
Failure to deliver fuel to hospitals will be a death sentence for everyone else. The incubators cannot work until tonight, after which they will run out of fuel.’
When contacted again about the ministry’s statement, Qidra reiterated that there was no electricity in the hospital and no internet.
“We are working hard to keep them alive, but we are afraid we may lose them in the coming hours,” he said. ‘There is no electricity in the landlady
Qidra claimed that Israeli army snipers controlling the roofs of buildings near the hospital had shot at the medical complex from time to time, restricting the movement of medics and people.
The Israeli military denied attacking the hospital and also said that a rocket attack on Friday that killed one person and injured others in a hospital courtyard, blamed on the IDF, was in fact a terrorist missile that fell short .
The hospital suspended operations after running out of fuel, Qidra said, adding: “As a result, one newborn baby died in the incubator, where there are 45 babies.”
Hamas denies using the hospital for military purposes and has asked the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send missions to Shifa to investigate Israeli claims.