The Gaza Strip faced a premature baby crisis during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. The situation escalated when the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

raided

Al-Shifa Hospital Al-Shifa Hospital ( ''Mustašfā aš-Šifāʾ'' ) was the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City. The hospital was first established by the govern ...

, Al-Nasr Children's Hospital, and Kamal Adwan Hospital. Reports of premature babies in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

having to be evacuated from Al-Shifa, as well as the destruction of embryos destined for implantation added to concerns about the rising number of

preterm birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 ...

s in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

Background

Starting on 21 October 2023,

Medical Aid for Palestinians Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is a British charitable organization, charity that offers medical services in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Gaza and Lebanon, and advocates for Palestinians' rights to health and dignity. It is in List of organiza ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

issued an "urgent warning" that 130

premature babies Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is betwee ...

would die if fuel did not reach Gaza hospitals soon. On 23 October, officials in Gaza confirmed that due to the Israeli siege on fuel, when hospitals lost electricity,

in NICUs were at risk of death. A press release from the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1 ...

(IRC) in April 2024 stated that pregnant women in Gaza had been experiencing premature labor and miscarriage at rates three times higher than before the conflict intensified. The rise was attributed to displacement, trauma, and malnutrition. In November 2024, Adele Khodr, UNICEF's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, emphasized the severe challenges faced by newborns in the Gaza Strip, stating that the war had disrupted fetal development, childbirth, and postnatal care, resulting in an increased need for intensive care among infants. Khodr also referenced reports from doctors highlighting a rising number of premature births, undernourished infants, and newborns with developmental complications.

Al-Shifa Hospital

On 11 November, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stated the army would help evacuate babies from al-Shifa Hospital, but a Gaza Health Ministry spokesman stated Israel had not provided "any mechanism to get the babies out to a safer hospital." The same day,

Physicians for Human Rights–Israel Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHR-I or PHR-IL; ) is a non-governmental, non-profit, human rights organization based in Jaffa. Physicians for Human Rights–Israel was founded in 1988 with the goal of promoting "a just society where the ...

stated two premature babies had died due to the loss of electricity. On 15 November, Israel launched a raid on al-Shifa Hospital, where three dozen premature babies were still sheltering. The director of Al-Shifa stated Israel's claim that it would provide incubators to premature babies was false. Reuters reported the IDF said that three battery powered incubators were on standby outside Gaza. The IDF released a video showing them depositing at the front gate of al-Shifa of fuel and a photo of a soldier loading mobile incubators. One mother reported believing that her premature son was going to die. On 19 November, 31 premature babies at al-Shifa were evacuated by the Palestinian Red Crescent,

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

, and

UNOCHA The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

to southern Gaza. They were planned to be moved to Egypt with their families the following day. Two additional babies died soon after. The babies were reported to be suffering from severe

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia (American English), also spelled hypoglycaemia or hypoglycæmia (British English), sometimes called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's tria ...

— insufficient blood sugar. On 20 November, 28 of the babies were evacuated to Egypt. Only eight were accompanied by their parents, as the others were

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

s, or their parents were unable to leave Gaza. As of 20 November 2023, eight babies were reported as having died at al-Shifa during that month.

Al-Nasr Children's Hospital

On 10 November,

Doctors Without Borders Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

reported that evacuating medical workers at Al-Nasr Children's Hospital had to leave babies in incubators after the IDF bombed the pediatric hospital. On 29 November, video footage from Al-Nasr showed the aftermath of the hospital's evacuation, with the five premature babies dead still in their incubators.* * * * * * * The

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (commonly known as Euro-Med Monitor and sometimes as Euro-Med HRM) is an independent, nonprofit organization for the protection of human rights. Richard Falk, the former United Nations Special Rapporteu ...

confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

stated that it had received "several requests" for evacuations from hospitals in northern Gaza, but due to security concerns, it was "not involved in any operations or evacuations, nor did teams commit to doing so." The organization also described the footage of deceased children as an "unspeakable tragedy."

Other hospitals

In mid-December, Israel began a military siege and raid on the Kamal Adwan hospital. On 14 December, the

Gaza Health Ministry The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM), officially the Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza, is responsible for managing healthcare and medical services in the Gaza Strip. The health ministry's casualty reports have received significant attention d ...

reported IDF soldiers had prevented medical staff from continuing support to 12 babies in intensive care. Three premature babies had died at Kamal Adwan in November following a power outage. In March 2024, Dr. Husam Abu Safiya, the acting head of Kamal Adwan, reported that his staff were treating 300 to 400 children a day, with 75% suffering from malnutrition. Between January and March 2024, 16 premature babies had died of malnutrition-related causes at the Al Helal Al Emirati Maternity Hospital in

Rafah Rafah ( ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Rafah Governorate. It is located south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. Due to the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza C ...

. On 12 December 2024 the IDF announced a forced displacement order for Gaza City's Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital, leading Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) to issue a press release to the effect that this would completely shut down "advanced neo-natal care" across all of Northern Gaza. MAP also said that their doctors in the hospital would not be evacuating. In February 2025, doctors at the Patient's Friends Benevolent Society Hospital reported that five babies had died due to cold weather, as well as the absence of adequate shelter and heating. Additionally, in Khan Younis, the head of the pediatric unit at the Nasser Hospital reported "that it he unithad received the body of a two-month-old girl who had died of hypothermia on Tuesday 5 February 2025. The director general of the Gaza Health Ministry "alleged that Israel had "failed to comply with humanitarian protocols, including allowing the entry of medical equipment, heating supplies, tents, and mobile homes" since the ceasefire began on 19 January." COGAT, meanwhile, said that Israel was committed to its obligations and was allowing tents into the Strip.

Rise in preterm births

A pediatric doctor at the Emirati Hospital in

, stated the number of premature babies born in Gaza had risen sharply. On 23 November,

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

stated the number of premature births had risen by nearly one-third due to factors like stress and trauma. In February 2024, the

UN Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, increasing access to birth control, and leadin ...

reported that the anxiety mothers were experiencing due to incessant bombings and fleeing for safety had led to a rise in premature births. In July 2024,

reported a rise in pre-term deliveries in southern Gaza.

Destruction of embryos

A single strike on Gaza City's Al Basma IVF center, Gaza's largest IVF center, destroyed most of the frozen IVF

embryos An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

in the Gaza Strip. It destroyed 4000 human embryos and an additional 1000 samples of frozen

sperms Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail know ...

and

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

. The embryos were stored in

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is nitrogen in a liquid state at cryogenics, low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, mobile liquid whose vis ...

, which did not require electricity to maintain; they only needed to be topped up once per month. But the blast blew the lid off 5 tanks, causing the liquid to quickly evaporate, which caused the embryos to defrost and die. They are 9 or more clinics in the Gaza Strip that perform IVF related procedures, but most of the embryos were stored in 5 liquid nitrogen tanks at the Al Basma center. The clinic was established in 1997 by obstetrician and gynecologist Bahaeldeen Ghalayini. Bahaeldeen Ghalayini said a single Israeli shell struck the part of the center where there embryos were stored on the ground floor, but he said he did not know if the lab had been specifically targeted by the strike.

Notes

References

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