Palestinians trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital dug a mass grave on Tuesday to bury patients who died under Israeli encirclement and said no plan was in place to evacuate babies despite Israel announcing an offer to send portable incubators.
Israeli forces have surrounded Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital which they say sits atop an underground headquarters of Hamas militants.
Hamas, Gaza’s ruling Islamist group, denies fighters are present and says 650 patients and 5,000-7,000 other civilians are trapped inside the hospital grounds, under constant fire from snipers and drones. It says 40 patients have died in recent days, including three premature babies whose incubators were knocked out.
A Hamas official in Beirut said 25 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals were out of use because of Israel’s assault. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was deeply disturbed by the “dramatic loss of life” in the hospitals, his spokesman said.
“In the name of humanity, the secretary-general calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” the spokesman told reporters.
Five weeks after Israel swore to destroy Hamas in retaliation for a cross-border assault by militants, the fate of Al Shifa has become a focus of international alarm, including from Israel’s closest ally, the United States.
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Ashraf Al-Qidra, Gaza’s health ministry spokesman, reached by telephone inside the hospital compound, said about 100 bodies were decomposing inside and no way to get them out.
“We are planning to bury them today in a mass grave inside the Al Shifa medical complex. It is going to be very dangerous as we don’t have any cover or protection from the ICRC,” he told Reuters, referring to the International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent.
Thirty-six babies are left from the neo-natal ward after three died. Without fuel for generators to power incubators, the babies were being kept as warm as possible, lined up eight to a bed.
Israel announced on Tuesday that it was offering portable, battery-powered incubators so the babies could be moved. But Qidra said that so far, no arrangements had been established to carry out any such evacuation.
“The occupation is still besieging the hospital and they are firing into the yards from time to time,” he said.
Israel denies the hospital is under siege and says its forces allow exit routes for those inside. Medics and officials inside the hospital deny this and say those trying to leave come under fire. Reuters could not verify the situation.
