"Amid Gaza fuel crisis, premature infants packed into incubators as hospitals face collapse."

 "Amid Gaza fuel crisis, premature infants packed into incubators as hospitals face collapse."

In a deeply distressing turn of events in Gaza, medical professionals at Al Shifa Medical Centre—the region’s largest hospital—are being forced to place several premature babies in a single incubator due to a critical fuel shortage threatening to shut down healthcare facilities across the embattled territory.

As Israel’s military campaign presses on, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has intensified, with hospitals nearing total collapse. Health workers have sounded the alarm, warning that the ongoing fuel crisis could result in the deaths of vulnerable patients—not from direct violence, but from the slow suffocation of a failing medical system.

“We are forced to place four, five, or sometimes three premature babies in one incubator,” said Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Al Shifa hospital. “Their condition is extremely critical.”

According to Dr. Muneer Alboursh, Director General of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the crisis is not due to direct strikes but the lack of fuel—essential for powering life-saving equipment. “This is denying these vulnerable individuals their most basic right to healthcare, turning the hospital into a silent graveyard,” he said.

Responding to the concerns, an Israeli military spokesperson stated that around 160,000 litres of fuel had entered Gaza since Wednesday for humanitarian use. However, they noted that Israel does not oversee the distribution of the fuel and could not confirm whether Al Shifa had received any of it.

United Nations agencies have echoed the grave warnings from Gaza’s health officials. The World Health Organization (WHO) described the territory’s health system as being "on its knees." Currently, only half of Gaza’s 36 general hospitals are functioning, and even those are operating at partial capacity.

Dr. Abu Selmia added that the hospital’s dialysis unit has already been shut down in order to conserve electricity for intensive care units and operating theatres—departments where power loss could prove fatal. “Roughly 100 premature babies in Gaza City hospitals are in immediate danger,” he warned.

Before the conflict, northern Gaza had 110 incubators. Now, only 40 remain functional, significantly lowering the chances of survival for the most fragile newborns.

In the south, Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis is facing a similar crisis. Hospital spokesperson Mohammed Sakr reported the facility needs 4,500 litres of fuel daily but has just 3,000 litres left. “Doctors are performing surgeries without electricity or air conditioning. Sweat from staff is dripping into patients’ wounds,” he revealed.

James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF who recently returned from Gaza, underscored the severity of the situation: “You can have the best hospital staff in the world, but without medicine, pain relief, and the fuel to power lights, it becomes an impossible mission.”

As the war stretches into its 21st month, Gaza’s medical personnel continue to fight—not only for their patients’ lives, but for the survival of the hospitals themselves.