The hospital in northern Gaza was evacuated when Israeli forces attacked.
Several weeks later, four premature babies were found, left to die alone.
The Israeli military presented an ultimatum. The al-Nasr hospital in northern Gaza was to be evacuated – otherwise those who remained would be attacked. At the same time, assurances came from an Israeli representative that ambulances would pick up remaining patients, writes The Washington Post.
A nurse in the besieged hospital cared for five premature babies who would not survive without transport incubators, but none were available.
Found in the same beds
The nurse left behind four children and took one with her – the one he judged to be the most viable.
– It felt like I left my own children behind, he tells the newspaper.
– If we had been able to take them with us, we would have done so, but if we had disconnected them from the oxygen supply, they would have died.
The babies left behind in the hospital were found several weeks after the evacuation, in the same beds where they had been left. The discovery was made by a journalist from the television channel Al Mashhad. The four premature babies had died alone where they had been left on 10 November.
Verified video material
The Washington Post has verified the video footage from the hospital broadcast by the television channel. The pictures show what remains of the small children’s bodies, still connected to respirators. According to the nurse who has spoken to the newspaper, the bodies remained where he left them, despite the fact that, according to the hospital’s director, there should have been an agreement between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Israeli Defense Forces that the patients who remained would be evacuated.
However, the ICRC claims that it was not part of such an evacuation.
– It is terrible and a great disappointment. It was not unexpected that these children would be at risk, as the UN and other organizations reported that they had been left behind, says Bill Van Esveld at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), to Sweden’s Radio Ekot.
Israel claims that terrorist-labeled Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes.