Palestinians seeking refuge at Gaza's largest hospital and staff said they were trapped in increasingly horrific conditions Saturday, November 11, with two premature infants dying due to lack of electricity as heavy fighting raged nearby.
The Israeli military has denied there is a siege at Al-Shifa hospital, and has repeatedly accused Hamas of using medical facilities as command centers and hideouts, a charge the Palestinian militant group denies. The gun battles and intense bombardment around the compound came as Israel pressed deep into Gaza City in its offensive aimed at destroying the militants on the territory they rule.
"Shooting is never stopping, airstrikes are unabated as well as artillery shells," said a witness who spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity. "There are dozens of bodies around the complex that nobody can reach." Though tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting, many have taken shelter in northern Gaza's hospitals which have been repeatedly hit by explosive strikes and gunfire.
"The hospital is besieged, with no option to bring in the corpses and injured people sprawled outside. There is no movement in or out of the hospital," said Physicians for Human Rights Israel, citing doctors at Al-Shifa.
The Israeli doctors' group added that due to the lack of electricity, the neonatal intensive care unit has stopped working and two premature infants have died – leaving the lives of 37 other infants at risk. "The situation in Al-Shifa is truly catastrophic," said Ann Taylor, head of the Palestinian Territories mission for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The Israeli military said Saturday it will aid the evacuation of babies. "The staff of the Al-Shifa hospital has requested that tomorrow, we will help the babies in the pediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed," military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.
A surgeon at the facility, Mohammed Obeid, confirmed the newborn deaths and said an adult patient also died because there was no electricity for his ventilator. "We want someone to give us the guarantee that they can evacuate the patients, because we have about 600 inpatients," he said, in an audio recording published by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group present in Gaza, said on Saturday its "fighters are engaged in fierce clashes in the vicinity of Al-Shifa hospital complex" and other areas of Gaza City, claiming to have caused "casualties in the ranks of the (Israeli) enemy forces".
Hospitals have become key sites for Palestinians seeking refuge from the intense gun battles and bombardment. Twenty of Gaza's 36 hospitals are "no longer functioning", the UN's humanitarian agency said.
Netanyahu pushes back against ceasefire
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday against growing international calls for a cease-fire, saying Israel’s battle to crush Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants will continue with "full force." A cease-fire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released, he said in a televised address.
The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarized and Israel would retain security control there. Such a position appears to run counter to the post-war scenarios floated by Israel’s closest ally, the United States, which has said it opposes an Israeli reoccupation of the territory.
Asked what he meant by security control, Netanyahu said Israeli forces must be able to enter Gaza when necessary to hunt down militants.