120 incubator babies at risk after Israel cuts Gaza fuel: UN
The Hindu
United Nations says 120 newborns in Gaza at risk of death due to lack of fuel, medicines, water; 1,750 children killed in Israeli strikes; 1,000 people needing dialysis also at risk; 130 premature babies in danger of dying; 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza.
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 October 22.
More than 1,750 children have already been killed by Israeli strikes launched against the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attacks, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.
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Hospitals face a dire lack of medicines, fuel and water not only for the thousands wounded in more than two weeks of the war between Gaza militants and Israel but also for routine patients.
“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,” said UNICEF spokesman Jonathan Crickx.
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 ordered a complete blockade of the territory after the Hamas attacks, in which the Islamist group killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.