Health officials said Sunday that 31 鈥渧ery sick鈥� premature babies were safely transferred from Gaza鈥檚 main hospital to another in the south and will later go to Egypt, as scores of critically wounded patients remained stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound.
The fate of the newborns at Shifa Hospital had captured global attention after the release of . A power blackout had shut down incubators and other equipment, and food, water and medical supplies ran out as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media the 鈥渧ery sick鈥� babies were evacuated along with six health workers and 10 family members of staff. They were receiving urgent care in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The babies suffered from dehydration, vomiting, hypothermia and some had sepsis because they hadn鈥檛 received medication, and they had not been in 鈥渟uitable conditions for them to stay alive,鈥� said Mohamed Zaqout, director of Gaza hospitals. They鈥檒l go to Egypt on Monday for more specialized care, he said.
A WHO team that visited the hospital on Saturday said 291 patients were still there, including the babies. Others were trauma patients with severely infected wounds and those with spinal injuries who are unable to move. Four babies died in the two days before their visit, Zaqout said.
The WHO said 25 medical staff remained, along with the patients who it said were 鈥渢errified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation.鈥� The agency described Shifa as a death zone.
Later Sunday, the hospital鈥檚 head of plastic surgery, Dr. Ahmed El Mokhallalati, said Israeli troops raided the surgical department, investigated staff and patients, and arrested one patient. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
Israel has long alleged Hamas maintains a sprawling , part of its wider accusation that the fighters use civilians as cover. It has portrayed the hospital as a key target in its war to end Hamas鈥� rule in Gaza following the militant group鈥檚 six weeks ago.
After , Israel鈥檚 army said Sunday it had discovered a 55-meter (60-yard) tunnel about 10 meters (33 feet) under the hospital鈥檚 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. It said the tunnel included a staircase, blast-proof door and a firing hole that could be used by snipers. The army said it was still uncovering the tunnel鈥檚 route.
The Associated Press couldn鈥檛 independently verify Israel鈥檚 findings.
Hamas and hospital staff earlier denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa, and critics describe the hospital as a symbol of what they call Israel鈥檚 reckless endangerment of civilians. Thousands have been killed in Israeli strikes, and there are severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel in the besieged territory.
SHIP SEIZED
Israel鈥檚 military said Yemen-based in the southern Red Sea sailing from Turkey to India but said no Israelis were aboard and that it wasn鈥檛 an Israeli ship.
The Houthis said they had seized an Israeli ship and crew and took the vessel to the Yemeni coast, but gave no details, other than to say it was treating the captives 鈥渋n accordance with the teaching and values of our Islamic religion.鈥� Earlier in the day, the Iranian-backed group threatened to target Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 office described the ship as owned by a British company. But a U.N. ship database identified the vessel鈥檚 owners as a Tel Aviv-based firm, Ray Shipping Ltd. Officials there did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
HEAVY FIGHTING IN THE NORTH
Heavy clashes were reported in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza overnight into Sunday. 鈥淭here was the constant sound of gunfire and tank shelling,鈥� Yassin Sharif, who is sheltering in a U.N.-run hospital there, said by phone. 鈥淚t was another night of horror.鈥�
The commissioner-general of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said 24 people were killed in what witnesses described as an Israeli airstrike on a school in a crowded U.N. shelter in Jabaliya the day before. The Israeli military, which has repeatedly called on Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, said only that its troops were active in the area 鈥渨ith the aim of hitting terrorists.鈥�
鈥淭his war is having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day. This must stop,鈥� U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on that strike and another on a U.N.-run school within 24 hours.
More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities. A further 2,700 have been reported missing, . The count between civilians and combatants; Israel says it has killed thousands of militants.
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS
About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas鈥� Oct. 7 attack, in which the group back into Gaza and shattered Israel鈥檚 sense of security. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed, including 12 over the past 24 hours.
Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa where there had been heavy fighting.
Israel, the United States and the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. 鈥淲e are hopeful that we can get a significant number of hostages freed in the coming days,鈥� Israel鈥檚 ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week.鈥� He added, 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about a pause in the fighting for a few days, so we can get the hostages out.鈥�
Qatar鈥檚 prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Sunday the 鈥渢he sticking points, honestly, at this stage are more practical, logistical.鈥�
WINTER ARRIVING
More than two-thirds of Gaza鈥檚 population of 2.3 million have fled their homes. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, is struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Seventeen of its facilities have been directly hit, the agency said.
Their misery has worsened in recent days with the arrival of winter, with cold winds and driving rain.
Over the weekend, Israel allowed UNRWA to import enough fuel to continue humanitarian operations for another couple of days, and to keep internet and telephone systems running. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing Gaza鈥檚 sole power plant and most water treatment systems to shut down.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday gave the clearest indication yet that the military plans to to the south, where Israel has told Palestinian civilians to seek refuge. Israel has repeatedly struck what it says are militant targets across the south, often killing civilians.
The evacuation zone is , and it was not clear where they would go if the offensive moved closer. Egypt has refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees, in part because of .
Palestinian-Canadian Khalil Manaa, 71, left Gaza for Egypt on Sunday. After fleeing to southern Gaza, he said he and relatives shared a crammed home of 40 people. 鈥淎nd there, we also were subjected to intense strikes. 鈥� A rocket hit our house,鈥� he said.
