Gaza’s largest hospital struggles to keep its neonatal units running

Premature babies wiggle and squirm, some with oxygen tubes under their noses, in rows of clear plastic incubators inside the neonatal unit of Gaza's largest hospital, which, like the rest of the besieged Palestinian territory, is running out of fuel, food, water, and electricity.

Doctors in Gaza say conditions have reached catastrophic levels. They say a lack of basic supplies has left them struggling to maintain hygiene and sanitation, and hospital grounds are overcrowded with displaced civilians seeking refuge from Israeli air strikes.

“We have noticed an increase in premature birth cases,” said Dr. Nasser Bulbul, head of the NICU at al-Shifa Hospital.

“We had to perform a premature delivery of the fetus from the mother's womb while she's dying,” he said. “Many of these infants are orphaned, and we don't know the fate of their relatives or have information about their identities.”

Around 50,000 pregnant women are caught up in the conflict, with around 5,500 due to give birth within the next 30 days, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

If fuel supplies run out, neonatal intensive care units will be impacted and planned or emergency caesarean sections will be impossible, the UN agency said.