More than 30 premature babies have been evacuated from the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip to be transferred to Egypt, the director general of hospitals in the Palestinian territory announced on Sunday, as the Israeli army “continues to expand its operations » against Hamas.
Furthermore, negotiations are continuing to obtain the release of hostages in the hands of Hamas, on the 44th day of the war triggered by the unprecedented attack of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil. Qatar, which is leading mediation, said on Sunday that only “minor” obstacles remained before an agreement.
On Saturday, a team from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN experts led a one-hour mission to al-Chifa hospital, which has become a “death zone” where the situation is “desperate” due to lack of water, electricity, medicine, food and medical equipment.
According to the WHO, patients, medical staff and 2,500 displaced people who had taken refuge in this hospital left it on Saturday after receiving orders from the Israeli army. She assured that she had only “responded to a request” from the establishment.
Babies evacuated
The Palestinian Red Crescent assured that its teams, in coordination with the WHO and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), had evacuated “31 premature babies from al-Chifa hospital” on Sunday.
They were to be transported by ambulances to the south of the Gaza Strip, the organization said on X (formerly Twitter).
“Three doctors and two nurses are accompanying them,” said Mohammed Zaqout, director general of hospitals in the Gaza Strip. “Preparations are underway to evacuate them to Egypt” via the Rafah crossing, the only opening to the world of the Palestinian territory which is not in the hands of Israel, he added.
The UN organization said it was preparing with its partners “plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients (in al-Chifa), staff and their families” to other hospitals in Gaza.
The hospital is still besieged by Israeli tanks and soldiers are there, Marwan Abou Saada, head of the surgery department, who remained on site, told AFP on Sunday.
“I have heard at least two explosions since the morning,” he said.
According to the army, which invaded the hospital complex on Wednesday, it houses a Hamas hideout, installed in particular in a network of tunnels. The Islamist movement, which took power in Gaza in 2007, denies this.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, is concentrated in the north of the territory, particularly in Gaza City, transformed into a field of ruins.
“Appalling images”
The Israeli army claimed to continue “to expand its operations in new areas of the Gaza Strip”, indicating that it had carried out operations on Saturday in the areas of Jabaliya and Zaytoun, in the north.
Undated images show Israeli soldiers moving and firing in a very dense urban environment, among damaged buildings.
On Sunday, the army announced the death of three soldiers in the Gaza Strip, bringing to 62 the number of soldiers killed in this territory since the start of the war.
The conflict was triggered by the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, on an unprecedented scale in Israeli history. According to the authorities, 1,200 people were killed, the vast majority civilians.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “annihilate” the movement, its army relentlessly shelling the small Palestinian territory, where it also launched a ground operation on October 27.
Hamas said on Saturday that Israeli strikes on the UN-run Jabaliya refugee camp had left more than 80 dead, including at least 50 in a school housing displaced people.
“We are receiving appalling images of numerous deaths and injuries once again in a UNRWA school which sheltered thousands of displaced people,” reacted the head of this UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini.
“Minor” obstacles
On Saturday, the Hamas government announced that 12,300 people had been killed in Israeli bombings since October 7, including more than 5,000 children.
According to the UN, more than two thirds of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war in the Gaza Strip, subject to a “complete siege” by Israel since October 9, which cut off food deliveries , water, electricity and medicines.
After Israel’s green light on Friday, around 120,000 liters of fuel arrived on Saturday, according to the UN.
Most of the displaced Palestinians have fled to the south of the territory, taking with them the minimum they need, and are trying to survive in the cold weather.
But strikes also take place in the South. On Saturday morning, a bombing left 26 dead in the town of Khan Younès, according to the director of the Nasser hospital.
On the day of the Hamas attack, some 240 people were kidnapped and returned to Gaza, according to Israel.
On Sunday, Qatar, which is conducting mediation, said only “minor” obstacles remained to an agreement on the release of hostages, without providing a timetable.
“The remaining challenges in the negotiations are very minor […] They are more logistical, they are more practical,” declared the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani, during a press conference in Doha alongside the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.
The White House said on Saturday that it would “continue to work hard” to reach a draft agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“Two-state solution”
In Israel, pressure is increasing on the government to obtain the release of the hostages.
“All the families” were able to meet Monday evening with “the entire Israeli war cabinet,” the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons said on Saturday.
Tensions are also high in the occupied West Bank where at least two people were killed by the army on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Since October 7, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the territory, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In an article published by the Washington Post on Saturday, Joe Biden threatened to ban visas to the United States from “extremist” settlers who attack civilians in the West Bank.
The US president, whose country is a key ally of Israel, also called for reunifying the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a “revitalized Palestinian Authority”, pleading for a “two-state solution”.