The spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed on Tuesday that Israel repeatedly refused to allow the transfer of incubators from a hospital evacuated in northern Gaza, increasing pressure on overcrowded hospitals in the south, where newborns are now sharing oxygen masks.

Israel denied this claim, asserting that it permits the transfer of medical equipment from the northern to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing two-year war between Israel and Hamas has increased stress and malnutrition among pregnant women, leading to a rise in premature and low-weight infants. The World Health Organization states they now represent one-fifth of newborns in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli attack on Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip last month caused hospitals in that area to close, increasing overcrowding in the still-operating hospitals in the south.

James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson, spoke about mothers lining up in the corridors of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, carrying their infants, saying the severe shortage is forcing hospital staff to share oxygen masks and beds among premature babies. Meanwhile, these vital devices remain in the closed hospitals in the north.

Elder said, “We tried to bring incubators from an evacuated hospital in the north, and four missions requesting those incubators were rejected,” referring to supplies currently stuck at the destroyed Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City.

He added that during a visit to a hospital in the south, “there were three children and three mothers on one bed in a pediatric ward, with a single oxygen source. The mothers took turns giving oxygen to each child for 20 minutes. This is the level of despair the mothers have reached now.”

Israel challenges the data

An Israeli army unit responsible for coordinating aid entry into the Gaza Strip said the UN data is incorrect and that approvals are issued for hundreds of coordination requests for humanitarian convoys, including the transfer of food, medical equipment, fuel, and teams.

The unit’s office added, “Medical equipment transfer from northern hospitals to southern hospitals is facilitated according to hospital requests.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that Israel has refused or obstructed 45% of 8,000 humanitarian missions requested inside Gaza since October 7, 2023.

UNICEF called for the evacuation of remaining sick and premature children in northern Gaza hospitals.

The World Health Organization transferred three of them last week to a hospital in the south but said one died before the mission began. It explained that only 14 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are currently operating, even partially.