At least 130 premature babies are at grave risk because of lack of fuel at Gaza hospitals,the United Nations health agency said on Sunday.
The babies are being cared for at six neonatal units,according to Medical Aid for Palestinians,an aid group working in Gaza.
But doctors have warned that the babies are in imminent danger if fuel does not reach hospitals soon.
The World Health Organisation called for “immediate and sustained” access of fuel into Gaza to keep health facilities operating,in a statement to the Associated Press.
Melanie Ward,chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians,urged world leaders to press Israel to allow the delivery of fuel to Gaza.
“The world cannot simply look on as these babies are killed by the siege on Gaza ... A failure to act is to sentence these babies to death,” she said.
Hospitals in Gaza have been struggling with the large number of wounded. Only 20 trucks carrying aid made it through the Gaza-Egypt border on Saturday,and humanitarian groups say the delivery was well short of the supplies that are needed.
Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta,a plastic and reconstructive surgeon working with Medicins Sans Frontieres in Shifa Hospital,said the hospital’s generators “are cutting out more regularly now than before”.
He said hospitals in the territory were facing severe shortages of medical supplies,including bandages,medication and other supplies.
“You can imagine the amount 14,000 severely wounded patients would consume,” he said.
AP