Israel-Hamas War: Third baby dies in Al-Shifa hospital after World Health Organisation warning

Gaza City’s primary medical facility, Al-Shifa hospital, is experiencing a catastrophic near-complete power outage, as well as devastating shortages of food and water, medics working at the facility say.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “constant gunfire and bombings” in the area around the hospital have “exacerbated the already critical circumstances”, adding that the site “is not functioning as a hospital anymore”.

Premature babies that were previously in incubators have since been moved to beds in a surgical ward, after a lack of electricity forced the neonatal unit to shut down.

The Israeli military have reiterated that they were “ready to help” evacuate the dozens of vulnerable newborn babies being cared for at the site to another hospital.

Israel’s government claim that the terror group Hamas, who perpetuated the kidnappings and murders on October 7, run their headquarters out of an intricate network under the hospital.

Hospital chiefs deny this claim.

The hospital’s head of surgery, Dr Marwan Abu Saada, revealed that a third premature newborn baby has now died because of a lack of power, according to the BBC.

According to the broadcaster, dozens of other newborns are currently not receiving the care they need, with Dr Abu Saada saying he was “afraid we are going to lose the lives of all [the] babies”.

The third infant reportedly died from enteritis – an inflammation of the gut to which premature babies are particularly susceptible.

Speaking to the BBC, a neonatal care expert said that keeping the babies warm was “vital”, explaining that moderately preterm babies, like those in Al-Shifa, must be kept at the right temperature.

UK-based doctor Dr Kevin Goss, consultant neonatologist at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, says most, although not all, should normally be in an incubator, and have other basic needs.

“Those babies wrapped up in those towels are relying on the ambient temperature,” he said.

“Those in the foreground are going potentially to run into trouble quickly if you don’t have a source of heat to keep them warm.”

In an update earlier today, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said that there are at least 2,300 people still inside the Al-Shifa hospital.

The numbers have been provided to the World Health Organisation, who shared them in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The post claims that there are between 600 and 650 inpatients in the hospital, as well as 200 to 500 health workers and around 1,500 displaced people who have sought shelter.

It adds that the lack of power, water, and food at the site is “putting lives at immediate risk”.

The WHO repeats its call for an “immediate ceasefire” and the “active protection of civilians and health care”.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog has again repeated an allegation that Hamas has its headquarters underneath Al-Shifa.

Hamas has denied using the hospital for military purposes.

The surgeon described Israel’s allegation as a “big lie” and issued an “open invitation” to its nearby forces to come and inspect the building.

Gaza’s second-largest hospital – Al-Quds in Gaza City – is no longer operational, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Yesterday, thousands of displaced Palestinians looked to Gaza’s largest hospital as a safe haven, but with Israeli strikes intensifying and the fighting reaching the gates of the compound, there seems nowhere for them to escape.

Ahmed al-Shawa, who sought refuge in the hospital, said he was afraid he would be “cut down by shrapnel”, if he stepped outside.

“The situation is very, very dangerous,” the 18-year-old from Gaza City said as the sound of explosions echoed in the background.

Crowds of people could be seen being crammed into the corridors of Al-Shifa to escape the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, adding to the overwhelming number of war casualties at the hospital.