Gaza babies’ lives at risk as Israel blocks fuel used in hospitals

Babies receiving critical care in Gaza risk becoming much sicker or even dying in the coming days as the enclave runs out of fuel and hospitals are forced to turn off incubators, doctors warn.

Walking down a row of incubators in the neonatal unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra, head of the facility’s pediatric unit, shared each baby’s story one by one.

“This baby is a full-term baby,” he told NBC News’ crew on the ground Thursday, gesturing at a tiny figure tucked into an incubator, wrapped in only his diaper and with an oxygen tube fixed to his nose with surgical tape.

“As you can see, he is depending on the mechanical ventilation,” Al-Farra said. “If the electricity was cut off … this baby will not survive.”

His warning evokes memories of early on in the war, when a number of infants died at hospitals in northern Gaza after repeated warnings that a military assault in the area would end up being fatal for the babies.

Nasser Hospital is just one of several facilities in Gaza facing “imminent shutdown” as fuel stocks in the enclave run out, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned Wednesday. The closure of vital units would most likely result in patients’ deaths, including in the intensive care and neonatal units, it said.

OCHA added that the “total ban on fuel entry” enforced by Israel for around 130 days was to blame for the shortages, which it said has also severely impacted water, sanitation and hygiene services.

While Israel in May lifted a blockade that prevented the entry of food, medical supplies and other vital items, it has only allowed in a limited amount of aid, including “basic” food supplies.

“The real threat to babies in Gaza isn’t a lack of fuel — it’s Hamas,” David Mencer, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in response to a request from NBC News for comment to the warnings of a fuel crisis at hospitals in the enclave.

“They hijack fuel for terror, not hospitals,” he said.

Mencer did not answer the question as to whether more fuel would be allowed to reach hospitals in Gaza in the near future.

COGAT, the Israeli military’s liaison with the Palestinians, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dr. Mohammad Saqer, director of nursing at Nasser Hospital, told NBC News that the facility only had around 3,000 liters (790 gallons) of diesel left. He said it needed 4,500 liters (1,190 gallons) daily to operate all departments effectively. Already, he said, the hospital had turned off electricity for some departments, funneling power to only the most vital units.

“The situation is very catastrophic because the electricity will abruptly go off within 24 hours,” Saqer said. “This means that a lot of patients, especially in the ICU in addition to other departments, are subject to inevitable death.”

Hospitals across the enclave have struggled to operate throughout the war, after being hit hard in Israel’s offensive. Of the territory’s 36 hospitals, none are fully functioning; 18 are providing partial services and 18 are not working at all, according to World Health Organization data last updated Monday.

Saqer, meanwhile, called on the international community to step in and help get fuel to Gaza’s hospitals in order to “save the lives of the children.”

His call came as the European Union foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said in a post on X on Thursday that E.U. officials had reached a new deal with Israel to allow much-needed food and fuel into the enclave.

Kallas said the deal could result in “more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar acknowledged the deal at a conference in Vienna, according to The Associated Press.