At least 30 premature babies evacuated from Gaza's main hospital, health officials say
Gaza Strip — At least 30 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza's main hospital on Sunday and will be transferred to facilities in Egypt, the territory's Health Ministry said.
Medhat Abbas, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed the evacuation in a phone call with The Associated Press. A World Health Organization team that visited Shifa Hospital on Saturday said 32 babies were among scores of critically ill patients stranded at the hospital, where Israeli forces have been operating since last week.
It was not immediately possible to resolve the discrepancy in the numbers. There was no immediate comment from the WHO.
The WHO team said earlier Sunday that 291 patients were left at Shifa after Israeli troops had others evacuate.
They included the babies in extremely critical condition, trauma patients with severely infected wounds, and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move.
The team was able to tour Shifa Hospital for an hour after about 2,500 displaced people, mobile patients and medical staff left the sprawling compound Saturday morning, the WHO said. It said 25 medical staff remained, along with the patients.
«Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation,» the agency said, describing Shifa as a death zone. It said it hopes to evacuate patients to southern Gaza, where hospitals are also overwhelmed.
Israel has long alleged that Hamas maintains a sprawling command post inside and under Shifa.
