Dwindling fuel supplies for Gaza’s hospital generators put premature babies in incubators at risk

“It’s sure that these babies are in danger,” she told The Associated Press. “It’s a real emergency to take care of these babies, as it is an emergency to take care of the population of Gaza who are suffering from these bombings since the past two weeks.”

The hospital must care for patients in northern and central Gaza since several hospitals shut down, he said, forcing it to more than double its patient capacity. That also puts a strain on the limited electricity.

Nesma al-Haj brought her newborn daughter to the hospital from Nuseirat, where she was recently displaced from northern Gaza, after she suffered from oxygen deprivation and extreme pain, she said.

The baby girl was born three days ago but soon developed complications. “The hospital is lacking in supplies,” she said, speaking from al-Aqsa. “We are afraid that if the situation gets worse, there won’t be any medicine left to treat our kids.”

The problems are exacerbated by the dirty water many have been forced to use since Israel cut off the water supply. Abu Zahar says mothers are mixing baby formula with the contaminated water to feed their infants. It has contributed to the rise in critical cases in the ward.

In the al-Awda Hospital, a private facility in northern Jabalia, up to 50 babies are born almost every day, said hospital director Ahmed Muhanna. The hospital received an evacuation order from the Israeli military, but continued to work.

“The situation is tragic in every sense of the word,” he said. “We have recorded a large deficit in emergency medicines and anesthetic,” as well as other medical supplies.

To ration dwindling supplies, Muhanna said all scheduled operations were stopped and the hospital devoted all its resources to emergencies and childbirths. Complex neo-natal cases are sent to al-Aqsa.

Al-Awda has enough fuel to last four days at most, Muhanna said. “We have appealed to many international institutions, the World Health Organization, to supply hospitals with fuel, but to no avail so far,” he said.

Thomas said women have already given birth in U.N.-run schools where tens of thousands of displaced people have sought shelter.

“These women are in danger, and the babies are in danger right now,” she said. “That’s a really critical situation.”

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Kullab reported from Baghdad.

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This story corrects the name from Nisma al-Ayub to Nesma al-Haj.