More than 100 premature babies in Gaza at risk as hospitals run out of fuel
The warnings from al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza City and Nasser Hospital in southern Khan Younis came on Wednesday, as Israeli forces continued to bombard the Palestinian enclave, killing at least 74 people.
Muhammad Abu Salmiyah, the director of al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest facility, told reporters that the lives of more than 100 premature babies and some 350 dialysis patients were at risk.
'Oxygen stations will stop working. A hospital without oxygen is no longer a hospital. The lab and blood banks will shut down, and the blood units in the refrigerators will spoil,' Salmiyah said.
'The hospital will cease to be a place of healing and will become a graveyard for those inside,' he said.
Abu Salmiyah went on to accuse Israel of 'trickle-feeding' fuel to Gaza's hospitals, and said that al-Shifa's dialysis department had already been shut down to conserve power for the intensive care unit and operating rooms, which cannot be without electricity for even a few minutes.In Khan Younis, the Nasser Medical Complex said it, too, has entered 'the crucial and final hours' due to the fuel shortages.
'With the fuel counter nearing zero, doctors have entered the battle to save lives in a race against time, death, and darkness,' the hospital said in a statement. 'Medical teams fight to the last breath. They have only their conscience and hope in those who hear the call – save Nasser Medical Complex before it turns into a silent graveyard for patients who could have been saved.'
Mohammed Sakr, a spokesman for the hospital, told the Reuters news agency that the facility needs 4,500 litres (1,189 gallons) of fuel per day to function, but it now has only 3,000 litres (790 gallons) – enough to last 24 hours.
Sakr said doctors are performing surgeries without electricity or air conditioning, and the sweat from staff is dripping into patients' wounds, risking infection.
A video from Nasser Hospital, posted on social media, shows doctors sweating profusely as they perform a surgery.
'Everything is turned off here. The air conditioning is turned off. No fans,' a doctor says in the video as he demonstrates conditions in the ward. 'All the staff are exhausted, they are complaining [about the] high temperature.'
Israel's relentless bombardment has decimated Gaza's healthcare system in the 21 months since it launched its assault on the Palestinian enclave in the wake of the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.
Since then, there have been more than 600 recorded attacks on health facilities in Gaza, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). As of May this year, only 19 of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially operational, with 94 percent of all hospitals damaged or destroyed.
Israeli forces have also killed more than 1,500 health workers in Gaza, and detained 185, according to official figures.
The WHO, meanwhile, has described Gaza's health sector as being 'on its knees', with shortages of fuel, medical supplies and frequent arrivals of mass casualties from Israeli attacks.
Marwan al-Hams, the director of field hospitals in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that 'hundreds' of people could die in the territory if fuel supplies are not brought in urgently.
This includes 'dozens' of premature babies who could die within the next two days, he said. Dialysis and intensive care patients would also lose their lives, he said, adding that the injuries of the wounded were worsening amid deteriorating conditions, while diseases like meningitis were spreading.
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who recently returned from Gaza, said, 'You can have the best hospital staff on the planet', but if they are denied medicine and fuel, operating a health facility 'becomes an impossibility'.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 57,575 people and wounded 136,879, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
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Dozens killed as Palestinians in Gaza scramble for aid from air and land
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Dozens killed as Palestinians in Gaza scramble for aid from air and land
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NY Times' erroneous cover photo of Gazan child joins series of media blunders framing stories against Israel
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The BBC vowed to take steps to address the failure, including issuing new guidance on the use of narrators in documentaries centering on controversial topics, the creation of a new leadership role focusing on documentaries and a new review process that ensures that "no high-risk long form programs can be formally commissioned until all potential compliance considerations are considered and listed." Leading to another media fiasco in May, United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher offered a dire warning to the world about the health crisis in Gaza as truckloads of aid were being stalled. "Let me describe what is on those trucks. This is baby food, baby nutrition. There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them," Fletcher told BBC's Radio 4. "This is not food that Hamas are going to steal." That claim quickly spread like wildfire. NBC News posted on X, "Around 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if many more aid trucks do not reach Gaza, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief says." The claim was repeated on MSNBC by NBC News international correspondent Matt Bradley, telling anchor Ana Cabrera that "14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if the status quo in terms of humanitarian aid persists." "The UN warning that as many as 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours, Israel blocking all food and medicines now for nearly three months, saying it's trying to pressure Hamas to release hostages, including, of course, the four Americans believed to be dead," ABC News chief foreign correspondent Ian Pannell told "Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts. "The urgent warnings tonight about the humanitarian crisis worsening in Gaza. The U.N. now warning 14,000 babies could die within 48 hours," ABC's David Muir teased viewers on "World News Tonight" before turning to Pannell. A UN spokesperson went on to clarify that 14,000 babies were actually at risk of suffering "severe acute malnutrition" if aid wasn't brought to Gazans, not of death, as Fletcher asserted. The BBC, NBC News and ABC News later issued clarifications. Ny Times Reporter Walks Back Post About 'Randomness' Of Israeli Strikes On Iran In June, when Israel carried out targeted strikes against top Iranian military generals and nuclear scientists in Tehran, New York Times UN bureau chief Farnaz Fassihi shared images of the aftermath, suggesting the attacks were random. "A friend in Tehran sent me this video, apartment complex housing university professors attacked directly across the street from her house," Fassihi wrote. "The randomness of strikes in residential neighborhoods have terrified Iranians." Critics railed against Fassihi as Israeli forces used such remarkable precision to prevent mass civilian casualties. The Times journalist was forced to clarify her comment. "About my tweet yesterday, I meant to say the sense of randomness caused by the strikes in residential neighborhoods has terrified Iranians. As we've reported, Israel has said the strikes are targeted," Fassihi said. Fox News' Brian Flood, David Spector and Rachel del Guidice contributed to this article source: NY Times' erroneous cover photo of Gazan child joins series of media blunders framing stories against Israel Solve the daily Crossword
