By Enyichukwu Enemanna
At least 29 babies evacuated from Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al-Shifa hospital, have arrived Egypt as the facility becomes Israel’s point of focus in its war with Hamas.
Israel has laid siege at the facility which it has repeatedly said serves as hideout for Hamas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the hospital as a “death zone”.
The WHO had earlier called for evacuation of patients from Gaza to Egypt for effective health care service as pressure mounts on Gaza hospitals as a result of increasing number of injured patients from Israel’s bombardment.
The state-affiliated Al-Qahera News reported that the babies arrived in Egypt via the Rafah crossing, the only entry and exit point to the Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel.
An initial 31 babies were reported evacuated from Al-Shifa to another Gaza clinic and it was not immediately clear why only 29 arrived in Egypt.
Al-Qahera News said that the babies transferred on Monday were placed in incubators.
A medical source told AFP not all the infants would be able to be treated at El-Arish hospital 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the Gaza Strip.
“There are not enough incubators at El-Arish hospital, and some babies will have to be transferred to Ismailia or Cairo,” the source said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that 31 “very sick” babies were moved in a joint operation with the UN and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
Doctors found that “all the babies are fighting serious infections due to lack of medical supplies and impossibility to continue infection control measures in Al-Shifa Hospital”, the Red Crescent said.
None of the babies had been accompanied by family members during the initial evacuation, the WHO said, as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza was unable to locate them.
