After more than two weeks of war between the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel, hospitals in the Palestinian territory are facing a serious shortage of supplies to care for the thousands of wounded, humanitarian organizations warn.
“We currently have more than 120 newborns in incubators, 70 of them on mechanical ventilation, and we are of course extremely concerned about them,” UNICEF spokesman Jonathan Crickx told Agence France Presse (AFP) in Jerusalem.
As a result of the “total siege” that Israel announced two days after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on the country on October 7, electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip were cut.
The area has mainly used generators, which require fuel to function, but this has not taken off.
The World Health Organization (WHO) asked Israel at a press conference in Geneva on Thursday to authorize its delivery as part of humanitarian aid to power hospital generators and desalination plants.
Israel gave the green light for the arrival of humanitarian aid, the first limited delivery of which took place from Egypt on Saturday, but fuel is excluded from the list of goods.
The UN stressed on Saturday the need to also transport fuel to Gaza, while the WHO said hospitals have already exhausted their reserves.
“What’s left are small amounts of fuel, which are used to desperately try to provide a few extra days of energy where possible,” said Michael Ryan, WHO’s program director for health emergencies.
Other reserves were allocated to hospital generators to maintain most urgent care.
According to AFP, premature babies are treated in seven neonatal units across the Gaza Strip.
“If they are placed in incubators with mechanical ventilation, we are concerned about their survival from the moment the electricity is turned off,” Crickx said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry had said on Saturday that 130 premature babies were “in mortal danger” due to a lack of fuel.
About 160 women give birth every day in Gaza, according to the United Nations Population Fund, which also estimates that 50,000 pregnant women currently live in this small area of 2.4 million people.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas – classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – following the attack it launched from Gaza on October 7.
According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people have been killed by Hamas in Israel since October 7, most of whom were civilians on the first day of the attack.
About 4,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli retaliatory attacks on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. This report includes 1,756 children.
Source: DN
