(CNN) — Three newborn babies have died in Gaza’s largest hospital after it went “out of service” amid intense fighting in the area, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, who say the facility is under siege from Israeli forces.
The Israeli army has denied the hospital is under siege and told CNN “there is no shooting at the hospital.”
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the health ministry, told CNN two of the babies at Al-Shifa Hospital died overnight Friday into Saturday after a shell struck nearby, shutting off the generator which had been powering incubators in the neonatal ward. Another died on Saturday morning.
Doctors are now being forced to carry out artificial respiration by hand on the 36 other babies they are caring for, Al-Bursh said. Doctors have covered the babies with soft lining and blankets as part of this effort.
Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra said he was trapped inside the complex in northern Gaza, saying it was “out of service” after repeatedly being targeted by Israeli fire.
“The intensive care unit, pediatric department, and oxygen devices have stopped working,” al-Qidra said.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said it could not contact any of its staff at Al-Shifa Hospital who had described a “catastrophic situation” inside.
In a statement Saturday, the organization said “ambulances can no longer move to collect the injured, and non-stop bombardment prevents patients and staff from evacuating.”
The Israeli army told CNN it was engaged in “ongoing intense fighting” against Hamas in the vicinity of the hospital, but refused to comment further on its forces’ proximity to the complex because military activity was still underway. Israel has accused the Hamas militants that run Gaza of using hospitals as cover.
In a separate statement, the Israeli army told CNN, it would coordinate with anyone who wants to leave safely. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an army spokesperson, said the Israeli military will also help evacuate babies from the hospital’s pediatric unit on Sunday and move them “to a safer hospital.”
Israel has been stepping up its offensive inside Gaza as part of its response to the surprise Hamas attacks that left 1,200 people dead.
Since then, Israel has been bombarding and blockading Gaza, an already impoverished and densely packed territory, leaving more than 11,000 people dead, according to Palestinian health officials. The assault has sparked escalating warnings about healthcare in Gaza.
The Director General for the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), Robert Mardini, said the organization was “shocked and appalled by the images and reports coming from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.”
“The unbearably desperate situation for patients & staff trapped inside must stop. Now,” Mardini said in a post on X.
Staff and patients trapped
Al-Bursh said Al-Shifa Hospital was under “complete siege” with staff and patients unable to evacuate.
There are still more than 400 people being treated at the hospital and around 20,000 displaced people seeking shelter in the hospital complex, according to Al-Bursh.
He told CNN there were more than 100 bodies wrapped in blankets on the ground within the hospital complex.
“We can’t bury them,” he told CNN by phone. The sound of explosions could be heard as he spoke.
CNN is unable to verify the number of dead at Al-Shifa Hospital.
Freelance journalist Mustafa Sarsour, who is based at the hospital, told CNN the conditions inside are terrible.
“The situation is very difficult and dire. After a slowdown in shelling this afternoon, the shelling and gun fire resumed, heavily targeting anything that moves,” Sarsour said, adding that medics inside the facility were working by candlelight and that food is growing scarce for both doctors and patients.
Al-Bursh said people who had been injured were instead being transported to the Al-Ahli Hospital as Al-Shifa was inaccessible.
Humanitarian agencies have been sounding the alarm about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital. Angelita Caredda, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Middle East director, said in a statement that the group was “horrified by reports of relentless attacks on Gaza’s hospitals.”
“Patients, including babies, and civilians seeking relief are trapped under attack. It is an affront to wage war around and on hospitals,” she said.
Other hospitals have been caught up in the fighting. On Friday the director of two facilities said Israeli tanks had them encircled.
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