The UN children’s charity said it had to suspend a pre-approved mission to transfer two newborn babies from Gaza City because they did not get Israeli security clearance as military operations continue despite a new ceasefire deal.
The babies are part of a group of 18 newborns in north Gaza hospitals whom UN agencies have been trying to evacuate amid an ongoing Israeli assault on the enclave’s largest urban area.
The two newborns, both less than a month old, were left behind in incubators at Al Helo Hospital because they could not be safely transferred along with their parents who fled north Gaza alongside hundreds of thousands of others, Unicef says.
“We put them in the back of the car and took them to our office and we were waiting for clearance to leave from there. Unfortunately we didn’t get that clearance,” Hamish Young, senior emergency co-ordinator for Unicef, said in a message sent to Reuters from Gaza City, speaking over machine gun fire.
COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously disputed claims it does not allow medical transfers.
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