Tanks are besieging the area near Al-Helo Hospital where at least 12 infants are in incubators.

UNICEF called on Monday for the immediate evacuation of at least 25 sick or premature infants in incubators in Gaza City to save them amid Israel’s intensified ground offensive, after it bombed a hospital housing about half of them overnight.

Palestinian health officials say tanks are surrounding the area near Al-Helo Hospital where at least 12 infants are in incubators. Paramedics said the site was shelled. A video obtained by Reuters showed hospital rooms and beds scattered with debris.

Ricardo Peiris, UNICEF spokesperson, told Reuters, “It is time to move them because Gaza City has again become a combat zone, but where do we move them? There is no safe place for them.”

Peiris said evacuating the children, many of whom are newborns, would mean transferring them in makeshift carts wrapped in blankets with portable oxygen supplies and drips. However, they may be exposed to infection, changing temperatures, or run out of supplies during transport.

“Moving them seems to be the best option we have now… but at the same time, it is a risky option,” he added.

It is not yet clear which hospitals might receive the infants, as many are damaged, overcrowded, and facing supply shortages.

Peiris visited Gaza City last month where he saw a premature baby named Narges who was delivered from her deceased mother, who was shot in the head.

He said, “We are very worried not only about her but about all the other children,” noting that efforts to reach her father and doctors since the bombing have failed.

He pointed out that the number of children in Gaza City exceeds the number of incubators and some children share incubators, adding that Israel has rejected some requests to bring in more. Peiris said he saw four children in one incubator last month.