Gaza City, November 30 (RHC)-- Journalists entering Gaza's al-Nasr Children's Hospital bombed by Israel discover decomposing bodies of several premature babies left alone in the hospital Israel forcefully evacuated. Several premature babies were left to die in an intensive care unit (ICU) in one of Gaza’s hospitals after medical staff were forced to evacuate by the Israeli forces, according to a chilling video report by Emirati TV channel al-Mashhad.
Footage released by the channel appeared to show the dead babies still lying in their hospital beds.
The disturbing footage was recorded in the aftermath of Israel's siege on the hospital in western Gaza, as the pause in the fighting brought to the forefront the scale of Israel's destruction in the strip. Hospital director Mustafa al-Kahlot said that he sent an appeal to aid groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), about the five children prior to their deaths but received no response.
The rights group called for the Israeli army to be "held accountable" for the deaths of the children and criticized the ICRC, who aided the evacuations from the hospital, for failing to help.
At least 22 hospitals in Gaza, including some in the south, have been told by the Israeli army to evacuate or be targeted. Many doctors refused to comply with these orders, citing a lack of safety measures for patients and any guarantee of return.
As the Israeli army expanded its ground attacks in Gaza, tanks and infantry forces encircled several hospitals in Gaza City and northern Gaza. Patients and thousands of people taking shelter in these hospitals were eventually forced out at gunpoint, including at al-Shifa Hospital, the al-Rantisi and the Indonesian Hospital, among others.
During the sieges on hospitals and subsequent forced expulsions, no aid or safety measures were provided for patients or medical staff.
Those trapped in hospitals included premature babies in incubators, ICU patients, people wounded from air strikes and elderly patients undergoing dialysis treatment. Under these conditions, at least 50 patients died during the siege on al-Shifa Hospital alone.
World Health Organization spokesperson Margaret Harris told a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that the collapse of al-Shifa Hospital -- the largest medical facility in Gaza -- was a "tragedy."
James Elder, a spokesperson for the UN Children's Agency in Gaza, said that hospitals in the enclave were full of children wounded by Israeli bombings and suffering from gastroenteritis due to drinking dirty water. Intense negotiations are now underway to secure a second extension of a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli regime. The current truce is due to expire in a matter of hours.
