Babies rescued from al-Shifa in 'very critical' condition: WHO official
Tuesday, 21 November 2023 (11:33 IST)
Speaking to DW, Al-Mandhari said the "lack of basic healthcare facilities" meant an even bigger risk of life to the babies "if we didn't move them." He added that the status of all 28 babies was "very critical."
Al-Mandhari said the WHO was able to take four mothers into Egypt with their babies and that the Red Crescent was "working hard to identify or to approach the parents ... of the rest of the babies."
Al-Mandhari addressed the Indonesian Hospital, which is also in the northern Gaza Strip, saying it was "almost non-functioning" due to the "lack of fuel and medical supplies."
Asked on whether the WHO's teams at the Indonesian Hospital had noticed any Hamas activity, Al-Mandhari said: "According to the information we are receiving from the teams there on the ground … they do not see any sort of military operations by Hamas."
The hospital "is full of patients, staff, relatives of the patients and displaced people," he stressed.
Relatives of Gaza hostages want Israeli politicians to stop talk of executing captured Hamas militants
Relatives of some of the 240 people held by Hamas militants in Gaza have urged Israeli politicians not to demand capital punishment for captured Palestinian militants, saying that even talk of doing so might endanger the hostages.
A number of suspected Hamas terrorists were detained after the cross-border attack into Israel on October 7. Israel's Justice Ministry said earlier this month that "punishments befitting the severity of the horrors committed" would be issued for those convicted.
Far-right politicians such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have called for the death penalty, which is dormant on Israel's lawbooks. However, some of the relatives of Israelis being held hostage have urged their government to tone down the rhetoric, as hopes grow of a deal to bring some of them home.
"It would mean playing along with their [Hamas'] mind games," Yarden Gonen, whose sister is among the hostages, told Ben-Gvir and his party colleagues during a parliamentary panel.
"In return we would get pictures of our loves ones murdered, with the State of Israel and not [Hamas] being blamed for it. Don't pursue this until after they are back here. Don't put my sister's blood on your hands."
Israeli military courts, which often handle cases involving Palestinians, have the power to hand down the death penalty by a unanimous decision of three judges, although this has never been implemented. The only court-ordered execution in Israeli history was of convicted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1962.
Despite that, Linor Dan-Calderon, three of whose relatives are hostages, said: "We are a nation that pursues life, not one that pursues revenge. I am simply asking you to drop this from the agenda."
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have warned that Israeli ships are "legitimate targets" after seizing an Israel-linked cargo vessel in the Red Sea on Sunday.
"We will not hesitate to take action," Houthi Major General Ali Al-Moshki told the group's Al-Massirah TV station, declaring the rebels part of the "axis of resistance" of Iran's allies and proxies.
The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned vessel "Galaxy Leader" is operated by a Japanese firm but has links to Israeli businessman Abraham "Rami" Ungar. According to Israeli officials, the crew includes Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans and a Romanian.
The vessel was headed from Turkey to India, but the Houthis said the capture was in retaliation for Israel's war against Hamas and re-routed it to the Yemeni port of Salif.
Given that the Yemeni coastline overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow pass which is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and carries about a fifth of global oil consumption, further naval aggression could have global repercussions.
"The threat of disruption to shipping in the wider region is likely to rise," Torbjorn Soltvedt of the risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft told French news agency AFP.
"If security concerns compel shipping companies to avoid the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the result will be significantly higher costs due to the lack of alternative routes."
Mohammed al-Basha, senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group said the failure of Houthi missile and drone launches to hit targets inside Israel "might have influenced the decision to refocus on the Red Sea arena."
Babies from al-Shifa Hospital taken to Egypt for treatment
Twenty-eight premature babies evacuated from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza were taken through the Rafah crossing on Monday to receive medical treatment in Egypt, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
The Egyptian Al-Qahera News channel broadcast footage showing each baby transferred into an incubator, then into an Egyptian ambulance.
Over the weekend, a total of 31 infants were transferred from the hospital by the Red Crescent Society and UN aid agencies.
Health officials said the babies were in "extremely critical condition" and were treated at the Emirates Hospital in Rafah on Sunday, before they were taken to the border on Monday.
The BBC has reported that three premature babies out of the 31 who were evacuated from al-Shifa hospital were not taken to Egypt from Gaza.
The British broadcaster quoted a doctor from Gaza's al-Ahli hospital, to which the babies were initially evacuated, as saying that one of the babies was "unidentified."
The parents of the other two babies refused their relocation to Egypt "due to personal circumstances," according to the BBC report.
