CNN reported on Monday that thirty-one babies were evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Sunday in a high-stakes operation that involved multiple international agencies rushing the newborns through active fighting in ambulances. The 31 babies that were evacuated are currently in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which is located close to the Rafah crossing that has been used to evacuate foreign nationals and bring in limited aid. Rafah is on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The babies were transported to the Al-Helal Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in southern Gaza by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PCRS), which was quoted in the report along with the statements of several other organizations.
It also added quoting an Egyptian government source that the babies would be transported to Egypt on Monday.
It was hoped that the parents of the newborns would be able to travel to safety with their children, but the WHO said very few of the infants were accompanied by family members, CNN reported.
Gazan officials had “limited information” and were not able to find close family members, the WHO said.
One father, Ali Sbeiti, was reunited with his young son Anas, who was born three days before the war began.
“Thank God. We now feel that our son is safe after not seeing him for more than two weeks. We didn’t know whether he was dead or alive, especially when communications were disconnected with the doctors,” Sbeiti said, CNN reported.
