Israel wants to evacuate babies from hospital in Gaza

The Israeli military on Saturday denied allegations that it was firing on the hospital. At the same time, it announced that it would help evacuate babies from the hospital building on Sunday. Hamas had previously reported that a newborn baby in an incubator died after a power outage.

The hospital staff had asked for the babies to be evacuated to a safer hospital, said Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari on Saturday evening. “We will provide the necessary support.” Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian information, it had to stop operating on Saturday because the fuel for the electricity generators ran out. “As a result, one newborn died in the incubator containing 45 babies,” Ashraf Al-Kidra, the health authority’s spokesman, told Reuters. Other infants are at risk of death.

Clinic shot at?

Israel accuses Hamas of setting up a command center beneath the hospital. According to the Ministry of Health, which is controlled by the terrorist organization, one person was killed and several people were injured in the overnight shelling of the intensive care unit. Hamas had already reported 13 deaths in the shelling of the clinic on Friday.

Video: ORF analysis of the situation in the Gaza Strip

Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya said on Saturday that the hospital came under heavy artillery fire on Saturday night and was without power for hours. The army denied this. There was no firing on the hospital, but there were skirmishes with Hamas fighters in the area, an army officer said. People could still leave the hospital safely, said Colonel Moshe Tetro of COGAT, an Israeli Defense Ministry unit that works with Palestinians on civil affairs. The east side of the site is open to anyone who wants to find safety. An army spokesman in Tel Aviv made similar comments. “There is no shooting at the hospital, nor is it under siege,” he said. Israeli troops supported anyone who wanted to leave the hospital safely. According to Israeli intelligence services, Hamas, which rules in the coastal area, is using the Shifa Hospital as a command and control center. This information cannot currently be independently verified.

“Attacks have increased dramatically”

The aid organization “Doctors Without Borders” said on Saturday on the online service X, formerly Twitter, that “the attacks on the Al-Shifa Hospital have increased dramatically in the last few hours.” She spoke of a “catastrophic” situation in the facility. A few hours later, the organization renewed its call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. “We are being killed here, please do something,” an MSF nurse wrote from the basement of Shifa Hospital on Saturday. Doctors Without Borders teams and hundreds of patients are still in the clinic.

Video: Alarming situation in the Gaza Strip

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are no longer functioning. “The health system is at rock bottom – and yet life-saving care continues to be provided,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. There was hope, at least for foreigners in the Gaza Strip. The border bar at the Rafah crossing into Egypt was supposed to open again for them on Sunday, as the Gaza border authority announced.

Progress in action against Hamas

The Israeli army reported progress in its action against the terrorist organization Hamas. According to a military spokesman, they have “lost control over the northern Gaza Strip.” The residents would be evacuated to the south, contrary to Hamas’ orders. According to the Israeli army, 150,000 people moved to the south in the past three days. According to eyewitness reports, Israeli tanks drove along central streets of Gaza city. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, they are about 20 meters from Al-Kuds Hospital. Meanwhile, Hamas’ Qassam Brigades boasted of supposed successes against the Israeli army. More than 160 Israeli “military targets” have been completely or partially destroyed, including 25 vehicles in the past 48 hours.

With its massive attacks in the densely populated Gaza Strip, the Israeli army is responding to the unprecedentedly brutal attack on Israel by the radical Islamic group Hamas. Hundreds of Islamists entered Israel on October 7th and committed atrocities mostly against civilians, including many children. According to updated Israeli figures, 1,200 people were killed in Israel and more than 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas information, which cannot be independently verified, more than 11,000 people, including 4,500 children, have been killed so far in Israel’s military operation to destroy the terrorist organization.

Barbock insists on international humanitarian law

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock insisted on international humanitarian law in view of the worsening situation in the hospitals. “International humanitarian law recognizes civilian victims. However, it also contains clear guard rails,” she said on Saturday evening after a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Tel Aviv. “This includes both the requirement to protect the civilian population and the distinction between civilian and military targets.” Hospitals are particularly sensitive places in this regard. “Israel, like every state in the world, has to adhere to this. Just as Israel, like every other state in the world, has the right to defend itself.”

At the same time, Baerbock rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, which French President Emmanuel Macron had recently joined. Macron had emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense in a BBC interview, but added. “De facto, civilians are being bombed today. Babies, women, old people are being bombed and killed.” There is no justification for this. “We therefore urge Israel to stop doing this,” Macron said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to Macron’s comments that the radical Islamic group Hamas and not Israel was responsible for the deaths of the civilians. On Friday, Israel’s close ally the USA expressed concern about the large number of deaths in the Gaza Strip. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “far too many Palestinians” had been killed.

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