Baby Among Two Patients Killed At Hospital Besieged By Israel, Says Gaza Official

According to the health ministry official, Israel military stationed snipers on the rooftops of the buildings adjoining the hospital and has been firing from time to time.

Palestinians push injured elderly people on a stretcher bed they took from a Gaza hospital. ( Image Source :Getty Images )

New Delhi: A baby died in an incubator and another person was killed by a shell in the intensive care unit of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza amid Israel’s military operations against Hamas, Palestinian health ministry spokesperson said, news agency Reuters reported. According to the locals, the Israeli troops have been fighting Hamas militants all night in and around Gaza city where the hospital is located. However, Israel military did not comment on the matter yet.

“The situation is worse than anyone can imagine. We are besieged inside the Al Shifa Medical Complex, and the occupation has targeted most of the buildings inside,” Reuters quoted health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra as saying.

According to the health ministry official, Israel military stationed snipers on the rooftops of the buildings adjoining the hospital and has been firing from time to time, making it difficult for the medics to move.

The hospital had to suspend its operations after the fuel ran out, resulting in the death of the baby in the incubator, which had 45 other infants, Reuters reported.

"The hospitals need to be evacuated in order to deal with Hamas. We intend on dealing with Hamas who have turned hospitals into fortified positions," the Israel military had earlier said when asked if it plans to enter the Gaza hospitals at some point.

The health officials said that the Israeli air strikes has put at risk the lives of patients, medics, other hospital staff, and thousands of civilians who have taken shelter in the buildings around the hospitals.

Meanwhile, condemning the civilian death toll in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said far too many Palestinians have been killed and many have suffered over the last few weeks.

“Far too many Palestinians have been killed, and far too many have suffered over the past weeks. We want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximise the assistance that gets to them,” Blinken had said.