As fighting rages, Israel says ready to evacuate babies from Gaza’s main hospital
- Israel’s military said it was ready to evacuate babies from Gaza’s largest hospital on Sunday, where Palestinian officials said two newborns died and dozens more were at risk after fuel ran out amid intense fighting in the area.
As the humanitarian situation worsened, Gaza’s border authority said the Rafah crossing into Egypt would reopen on Sunday for foreign passport holders after closing on Friday.
Hamas said it had completely or partially destroyed more than 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza, including more than 25 vehicles in the past 48 hours. An Israeli military spokesperson said Hamas had lost control of northern Gaza.
At a news conference late on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the deaths of five more Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The Israeli military said 46 had been killed since its ground operations there began.
Israel’s three major TV news channels, without citing named sources, said there was some progress toward a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Netanyahu said he would not discuss details of any possible deal, which according to N12 News would involve 50 to 100 women, children and elderly being released in stages during a three to five day pause in fighting.
According to the reports, Israel would release women and minor Palestinian prisoners from its jails and consider letting fuel in to Gaza, while reserving the right to resume fighting after the deal.
“When we have something concrete to say then we will update the families and bring it to the government,” Netanyahu said. “Until then silence would be best.”
In Tel Aviv, thousands joined a rally to support families of the hostages.
Gaza residents said Israeli troops, who went to war to eliminate Hamas after its bloody cross-border assault on Oct. 7, had been clashing with Hamas gunmen all night in and around Gaza City where the Al Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest, is located.
Ashraf Al-Qidra, who represents the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, said the hospital suspended operations after fuel ran out. He said two babies had died in an incubator as a result. He said there were 45 babies in total.
He said Israeli shelling killed a patient in intensive care and that Israeli snipers on rooftops fired into the medical complex from time to time, limiting people’s ability to move.
“We are besieged inside the Al Shifa Medical Complex, and the (Israeli) occupation has targeted most of the buildings inside,” he told Reuters by phone.
Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of coordination and liaison at COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body handling civil affairs in Gaza, said there had been clashes but added: “There is no shooting at the hospital and there is no siege.”
Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the Israeli military would help evacuate babies from the hospital.
“The staff of the Shifa hospital has requested that tomorrow we help the babies in the pediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed,” he said.
Israel has said doctors, patients and thousands of evacuees who have taken refuge at hospitals in northern Gaza must leave so it can tackle Hamas gunmen who it says have placed command centres under and around them.
Hamas denies using hospitals this way. Medical staff say patients could die if they are moved and Palestinian officials say Israeli fire makes it dangerous for others to leave.
Israeli Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter was asked by N12 about images of Gaza residents evacuating south and whether that was a goal of the war, or only temporary.
He described the situation as being “Gaza’s Nakba” - a reference to mass dispossessions of Palestinians after Israel was founded in 1948.