IDF says it will aid in evacuation for babies at Gaza hospital

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday said it will assist in the evacuation of babies at Gaza’s largest hospital as Israeli forces continue their ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in a campaign to destroy the militant group Hamas.

IDF Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the IDF will help get the babies in the Al-Shifa hospital’s pediatric department to a safer hospital on Sunday, following a request for assistance from hospital staff.

The Israeli military has claimed, without evidence, that Hamas is using Al-Shifa hospital to establish command posts and use civilians as human shields, the Associated Press reported.

Hamas has remained embedded in the civilian population since the group’s Oct. 7 surprise assault on Israel, which left about 1,200 people dead, including hundreds of civilians. Israel has vowed to eliminate the group, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and several other countries.

Following weeks of airstrikes in Gaza, Israeli forces recently launched a ground invasion of northern Gaza, reportedly surrounding the center of the city. Fighting surrounding Shifa and other hospitals has raged on in recent days, with supplies dwindling low in the wake of Israel’s blockade of basic necessities.

Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia told the AP the facility lost power on Saturday, prompting medical devices to stop and patients, especially those in intensive care, starting to die.

The hospital claimed the lack of fuel caused a premature baby, a child in an incubator and four other patients to die, the AP reported. The Hamas-ruled Health Ministry in Gaza said on Saturday ambulances have not been able to move as a result of bombing outside of the hospital.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied the hospital was left without power, telling BBC News, “There is a lot of spin by Hamas. There is electricity in Shifa, everything is operating.”

Hagari further claimed there is no siege on the Shifa hospital and part of the facility remains open for civilians to leave the hospital.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Saturday that the organization lost contact with its “focal points” in Shifa and reiterated WHO’s call for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

Over 11,070 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war broke out last month, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza have been forced to flee their homes, taking shelter in schools or hospitals alongside thousands of medical patients.

At the onset of the war, Israel ordered a complete siege on food, water, fuel and medical supplies, though have since allowed small convoys of aid to pass through to the enclave. Humanitarian leaders have warned the aid is not enough to fill the dwindling supplies.

Updated at 10:48 a.m.