The calm & soft spoken narration is much appreciated right now.
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(insert Grumpy Cat “Good”)
From the Guardian liveblog:
Al-Shifa hospital head of surgery: ‘I am afraid that all of the babies will lose their lives’
Ruth Michaelson
(Warning: this post contains distressing images )
Inside a darkened operating theatre in Gaza’s largest hospital complex, staff swaddled dozens of tiny premature babies eight to a bed, in a desperate effort to keep the infants warm – and alive.
With no oxygen supplies or power for incubators, nurses attempted to provide what little care they could for 39 babies who were transferred from the neonatal unit in another part of the sprawling complex following a strike on Dar al-Shifa’s intensive care unit.
Just getting them to the theatre was a potentially deadly mission after staff reported strikes on anyone moving inside the hospital compound.
“The neonatal unit is not connected to the main surgical units within the al-Shifa medical complex; it was dangerous to go from the main building to get the babies,” said doctor Marwan Abu Sada, head of surgery at al-Shifa, once considered the heart of Gaza’s healthcare system, now operating under fire.
“We called the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Israelis just to ensure the passage of the babies from the neonatal ICU to the surgical area.”
36 infants managed to survive the transfer, but their conditions worsened over the weekend. “We lost the life of one baby today, yesterday we lost two and I am afraid that all of the babies will lose their lives,” said Abu Sada.
Al-Shifa previously had the largest neonatal unit in Gaza and nowhere else could care for the infants, he said, making evacuation impossible. “We no longer have any oxygen supplies, or even fuel to run a generator,” he said.
Hospitals across Gaza City are in a struggle for survival, with only one facility able to receive hundreds of wounded people arriving daily. Staff in Dar al-Shifa, the largest medical facility in the enclave, were working under bombardment and without power, clean water, or food.
“Shifa is besieged: No one can get out, and no one can enter,” said Abu Sada. “It is dangerous for us, even the medical staff, to look out the window. We are so afraid of the shooting,” he said.
Amid fears of sniper fire, hospital staff have moved all 600 remaining patients away from the windows and into corridors deeper inside the complex.
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Just be warned, there is a bit of shaky camera work here…
[eta]
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From the Guardian liveblog:
4m ago
23.14 GMT
The Associated Press has this update on al-Shifa hospital, where the last generator ran out of fuel Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Health Ministry.It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying.
Israel’s military asserted it placed 300 liters (79 gallons) of fuel near Shifa overnight for an emergency generator powering incubators for premature babies and coordinated the delivery with hospital officials. “Sadly, they haven’t taken the fuel yet,” spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said. He said if this fuel doesn’t work, they will seek “other solutions for the babies.”
A Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, told Al Jazeera the fuel would not be enough to operate the generator an hour. “This is a mockery towards the patients and children,” Al-Qidra said.
Yet another piece of shameless propaganda. This had nothing to do with Hamas. The Director of Al-Shifa explained that 300L would only suffice for 1/2 hour of operations which would do little to nothing for patients. Further, the Israeli military refused request to have the Red Cross deliver the fuel, instead, demanding that Palestinians go to a perilous location at night to retrieve. Israeli military initially offered 2000L, which was welcomed, but then retracted and said they would only give 300L. Palestinians risking lives to get an amount of fuel that would too little to help patients is why Al-Shifa didn’t send anyone to pick it up. Israel can send thousands of liters now via the Red across instead of this nonsense done for show.
Interview with the director of Al-Shifa hospital saying the same thing:
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