Gaza patients 'in streets without care' after forced evacuation by Israel

Patients are out "in the streets without care" after "forced evacuations" of two paediatric hospitals in Gaza, an official in the Palestinian enclave said on Sunday, countering the Israeli army which said it secured safe passage for civilians.

"The forced evacuations of Al-Nasr and Rantisi paediatric hospitals have left sick people on the streets without care" in Gaza City, Mohammed Zaqut, director-general of hospitals in the Palestinian territory, told reporters.

"We have completely lost contact with the caregivers" at these two hospitals, he added.

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli military said it had "enabled the evacuation" of the two hospitals and opened an additional route to facilitate the safe passage of the civilian population to the south of the Gaza Strip.

Zaqut also described a "catastrophic" situation inside Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, saying "no one can enter or leave it" amid heavy fighting.

Gaza's Al Shifa hospital under heavy bombardment https://t.co/PlDynvaYOk

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 12, 2023

Doctors and aid groups on Saturday said two out of 39 babies had died in Al-Shifa's neonatal unit after power to their incubators was cut off.

"We must save premature babies," Zaqut said.

Israel pledged on Saturday to help evacuate babies from the facility, which has been caught in Israel's ground offensive and repeatedly hit by strikes.

But Melanie Ward, chief executive of the group Medical Aid for Palestinians, questioned how such an evacuation could be undertaken safely.

"The transfer of critically ill neonates is a complex and technical process," Ward said.

"With ambulances unable to reach the hospital – particularly those with the skills and equipment needed to transfer these babies – and no hospital with capacity to receive them, there is no indication of how this can be done safely."

🚨Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Shifa Hospital, which MAP has supported over many years, are beginning to die from lack of oxygen. More will die soon unless the power supply is restored.

MAP’s CEO @melanie_ward responds:⬇️🧵(1/6) pic.twitter.com/bOw5cdlpej

— Medical Aid for Palestinians (@MedicalAidPal) November 12, 2023

For days, Al-Shifa officials have said that dozens of bodies have been abandoned near the hospital and in its courtyard.

An Al-Shifa ambulance driver, speaking to AFP by telephone, said ambulances had come under sniper fire while trying to approach the bodies.

"We asked to be able to bury the bodies, but anyone who goes out into the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital gets shot," Zaqut said.

Gaza authorities said Sunday the death toll from Israel's war on the besieged Palestinian enclave had risen to 11,180.

The government media office said the dead included 4,609 children and 3,100 women, whilst a further 28,200 people have been wounded.