No, Israel didn’t murder 39 newborn babies in Gaza. But they may still die.

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Explanation

On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas led surprise attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip resulting in hundreds of civilians dead. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and started its air and land offensive in Gaza resulting in the death of over 11,000 Palestinians thus far. Since the beginning of the conflict, the internet has been flooded with various viral claims linking it with the current war situation.

Now, an image is being shared virally in social media. The image shows a baby in an incubator lying on the bed with many tubes. This image is shared with the claim that Israel has murdered 39 newborn babies by cutting their oxygen supply in Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital. Similar claims can be seen here, here,and here.

What’s the truth?

Using keywords such as ‘39 babies murdered’, ‘Al Shifa hospital’ and ‘oxygen supply’ in Google search led us to multiple reports from various sources.

According to the article published by Reuters on 11 Nov 2023, Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza had said “one newborn baby died inside the incubator, where there are 45 babies”.

An article from Al Jazeera on 11 Nov 2023 reported “Two premature babies die, 37 under threat at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital”.

The article quotes Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the Director of Al-Shifa Hospital who had said, that they’ve lost two out of 39 babies because of the power outage and 37 babies are in critical condition. He explained that the babies died due to “low temperatures and a lack of oxygen. We are now using primitive methods to keep them alive.” He cited lack of fuel at the hospital which provides electricity to the incubators allowing for warm temperatures and a constant flow of oxygen.

Reuters article dated 13 Nov 2023, had quoted Dr. Mohamed Tabasha, head of the paediatric department at Al Shifa Hospital “Yesterday I had 39 babies and today they have become 36”. This number coincides with other articles from India Today, Aljazeera and Gulf News. He also said “”I cannot say how long they can last. I can lose another two babies today, or in an hour.” So, at one point, there were 39 babies in incubation and out of those babies, 3 had died so far.

Precarious situation in Al-Shifa Hospital

Dr. Mohamed Tabasha, head of the paediatric department at Al Shifa Hospital had said that the babies had to be moved to ordinary beds where they were placed side by side, surrounded by packets of nappies, cardboard boxes of sterile gauze and plastic bags. He said “I never expected in my life that I would put 39 babies side by side on a bed, each with a different disease…. The infants are too cold, and the temperature is not stable because of power cuts. In the absence of infection control measures, they are transmitting viruses to each other and they have no immunity.”

Although it is not true that 39 babies died in the Al Shifa Hospital, one cannot rule out such a possibility in the coming days at this stage if situation doesn’t improve. The power outage caused by the war is the reason to blame and the hospital is reported to be under siege by the Israeli army.

Conclusion:

The viral claim that 39 newborns are murdered in Al Shifa hospital is misleading. The war between Israel and Hamas has caused power outage and loss of power to incubators led to lack of oxygen supply which has resulted in the death of at least 3 babies in the past couple of days. The hospital and the surrouding area is under siege by the Israeli army and the 36 babies are still at the risk of dying.

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