JERUSALEM: The lives of at least 120 newborn babies on incubators in war-torn Gaza’s hospitals are at risk as fuel runs out in the besieged enclave, the UN children’s agency warned on Sunday.

More than 1,750 children have already been killed by Israeli strikes launched against the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.

Ten hospitals in Gaza have become non-operational due to fuel shortage as Israeli continues its bombardment in the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu Agency quoted the enclave’s health ministry as saying. It added that 23 ambulances were destroyed in bombardment.

Power is one of the main worries for the seven specialist wards across Gaza treating premature babies to help with breathing and provide critical support, for example when their organs are not developed enough. Israel has ordered a complete blockade of the territory.

1,000 people needing dialysis will also be at risk if generators stop

Unicef spokesman Jonathan Crickx said, “We have currently 120 neonates who are in incubators, out of which we have 70 neonates with mechanical ventilation, and of course this is where we are extremely concerned.”

Amid widespread electricity cuts, the World Health Organisation warned on Thursday that hospitals had already run out of fuel for generators. The WHO said about 1,000 people needing dialysis will also be at risk if the generators stop.

Twenty aid trucks crossed from Egypt into Gaza on Saturday but there was no fuel in the consignment. Israel fears that fuel could help Hamas.

“If they (babies) are put in mechanical ventilation incubators, by definition, if you cut the electricity, we are worried about their lives,” the Unicef spokesman said.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday that 130 premature babies were in danger of dying due to the lack of fuel.

According to the UN Population Fund estimates there are 50,000 pregnant women across the territory of 2.4 million people. Whole families, including pregnant women, have been killed in strikes and each day parents can be seen in devastated streets carrying the bodies of infants in white shrouds.

Doctors at Najjar hospital in Rafah spoke of how they had tried in vain to save an unborn infant from a woman killed in an air strike on her family’s home. Hours earlier, eight children were killed as they slept in a house in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2023