Evacuated premature babies arrive at Gaza hospital

Thirty-one premature babies have been moved from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City to a maternity hospital in southern Gaza.

The babies had to be “wrapped in foil to maintain their body temperatures [while] on the move – but their “health condition is good”, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent told the BBC.

Many of the 31 babies evacuated to the Emirati Hospital in Rafah on Sunday have “lost their parents in bombardments” by Israel, Nebal Farsakh said.

She said the surviving parents had been ordered to leave Gaza City – where al-Shifa hospital is located – before the babies’ evacuation, and their current whereabouts are unknown.

Hundreds of people have left Gaza’s largest hospital in the days since the Israeli military entered the complex to carry out what it called “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas”.

The World Health Organisation estimates that almost 300 critically ill patients remain stranded at al-Shifa.