3 babies die in Gaza's biggest hospital as it goes 'out of service,' Hamas-run ministry says
James Holden Three babies in the neonatal unit of Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza have now died, after the hospital went “out of service," according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health on Saturday amid persistent Israeli fire in the vicinity.
Doctors in the neonatal ward are now being forced to carry out artificial respiration by hand on the 36 babies that they are caring for, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health told CNN Saturday. Doctors have covered the babies with soft lining and blankets as part of this effort, he said.
Bursh also said the hospital was "surrounded from all four directions," estimating that 400 people were being treated at the hospital and around 20,000 displaced people seeking shelter in the hospital complex.
The spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra said he was trapped inside the Al-Shifa complex.
Dr. Qidra said in a statement to CNN Saturday the complex is currently “out of service” after repeatedly being targeted by Israeli fire.
"The intensive care unit, pediatric department, and oxygen devices have stopped working," Dr. Qidra said.
CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the situation in the vicinity of the hospital.
The IDF has regularly said that Hamas is using Gaza hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as cover for its military operations. It has also warned civilians in northern Gaza to move south.
Growing alarm: The Director General for the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), Robert Mardini, said the organization was "shocked and appalled by the images and reports coming from Al Shifa hospital in Gaza."
"The unbearably desperate situation for patients & staff trapped inside must stop. Now," Mardini said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly before 5.30aET Saturday.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said it had lost contact with staff inside the hospital while the World Health Organization said it was “extremely disturbed” about reports of Israeli attacks nearby.
