31 premature babies evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City

Thirty-one premature babies have been evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

The premature infants were trapped in the hospital without life-sustaining equipment, food, or medication amidst an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital.

At least eight babies had died before they could be evacuated. The evacuation was a joint operation by the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The director general of hospitals for the Palestinian Health Ministry, Dr Mohammad Zaqout, said they would be stabilised in Rafah before being taken to hospitals in Egypt.

He added that in Al Shifa Hospital, even the water used to make the babies' drinks had been polluted, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss.

Some were in a critical condition and one was on a ventilator, he said. Hundreds of other patients, staff, and displaced people who were sheltering in Al Shifa Hospital left on Saturday, with Palestinian health officials saying they were ejected inhumanely by Israeli troops.