Gaza infants in incubators close to death due to fuel shortages
Medical centers in Gaza warn that as a result of the Israeli regime’s blockade and fuel shortages in Gaza, infants who rely on incubators to survive may soon lose their lives.
For several days, humanitarian organizations and hospitals in Gaza have issued urgent appeals for international intervention to secure fuel deliveries as shortages continue to paralyze vital services for over two million Palestinians, especially for infants.
Mohammed Tabaja, head of the pediatric ward at al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City, said the facility is “100 percent dependent on the generator.”
His department is responsible for the intensive care of newborns weighing less than 1.5 kilograms, as well as infants suffering from oxygen deprivation and congenital abnormalities, all of whom require uninterrupted electricity.
“We have a problem in the nursery ward. There is no uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The motor shuts down every two hours due to the fuel shortage. When that happens, the electricity cuts out,” he explained.
“This impacts the babies’ lives, as we must restart the ventilators and continuous positive airway pressure machines (CPAPs), all of which require electricity. We have been requesting a UPS for three months, but there are no batteries available in Gaza,” he continued.
He said that while the incubators in the ward remain operational for now, the department is severely overcrowded and operates beyond capacity, with 12 incubators being used for at least 22 infants, an occupancy rate of more than 180 percent.
In a joint statement issued on Sunday, municipal authorities in central and southern Gaza announced the suspension of essential public services due to what they described as “the complete interruption of fuel” required to operate vital equipment.
The halted services include “water well operations, sanitation, waste collection, rubble removal, and the use of heavy machinery to open roads.”
Last week, the UN confirmed that the Israeli regime permitted a limited shipment of fuel into Gaza, the first in over four months. However, the 75,000-litre delivery was far from sufficient, failing to cover even a single day’s needs.
Moreover, the regime has been severely limiting the flow of life-saving aid delivery into the besieged enclave, including nutritional relief and medical supplies.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, since Israel began its campaign of genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, it has killed at least 58,479 people and wounded 139,355, most of whom are children and women.
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