GENEVA: The UN children’s charity called on Monday for an immediate evacuation to save at least 25 ill or premature babies in incubators in Gaza City as Israel steps up its ground offensive, shelling a hospital housing around half of them.
Palestinian health officials say tanks are surrounding the area near Al-Helo Hospital, where at least 12 babies are in incubators.
Medics said the site was shelled. Video obtained by Reuters showed hospital rooms and beds there strewn with debris. “It is time to move them because Gaza City again has become a combat zone, but moving them where? There is no safe place for them to go,” said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires.
Evacuation of the babies, many of them newborns, will mean moving them to makeshift carts, wrapped in blankets with portable oxygen supplies and drips, Pires said.
Still, they could be exposed to infection, variable temperatures, or supplies could run out during the transfer.
