Israel released the names of two IDF soldiers killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip – 28-year-old Yisachar Natan and 21-year-old Itay Shoham.
The death toll of IDF forces reached 42. Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, has effectively ceased to function and patient deaths there are rising significantly, the head of the World Health Organization said Sunday.
Meanwhile, health officials said Gaza's second largest hospital, Al-Quds, was suspending operations from lack of fuel and electricity. Palestinian health officials also said on Sunday that 23 of Gaza's 35 hospitals had stopped working.
Israel's military says it's been battling Hamas fighters around Al-Shifa.
'Bloodbath' being witnessed at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital
"The situation is dire and perilous. It's been 3 days without electricity, without water and with very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post on Sunday. He added that there is "constant gunfire and bombings in the area" and that the facility "is not functioning as a hospital anymore."
Tedros called for an immediate cease-fire.
Earlier, Doctors Without Borders released a voice memo from Dr. Mohammed Obeid from inside Al-Shifa saying the lives of dozens of babies are in peril after their incubators shut down because fuel to power generators ran out.
"We had two neonatal patients die actually because the incubator is not working because there is no electricity," Obeid said. "So the situation is very, very bad. We need help."
Obeid said the hospital is treating 600 patients and that they are also running out of water and food.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday that the goal is to evacuate all the patients from Al-Shifa. He said about 100 patients have been moved so far and special corridors are in place to help civilians travel out of the fighting zone. The prime minister also blamed Hamas for hindering evacuation efforts.
"We're obviously treading carefully when it comes to hospitals but we're also not going to give immunity to the terrorists," Netanyahu said on CNN's State of the Union.
