Mass Grave Dug at Shifa Hospital; Israel Proposed Transfer of Newborns

Reuters reported that Palestinians trapped in Gaza's largest hospital, Shifa Hospital, dug a mass grave on Tuesday, November 14, to bury patients who died during the Israeli blockade. According to the report, despite Israel's proposal to send a portable incubator for the transfer of newborns, officials say there is still no plan for their evacuation. Israeli forces have besieged Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, claiming that Hamas militants are hiding in its underground levels. Hamas denies this claim, stating that 650 patients and 5,000 to 7,000 civilians are trapped inside the hospital grounds under continuous Israeli fire. The United States, the European Union, and Japan have designated the Hamas militant group, which is supported by the Islamic Republic, as a terrorist organization. Hamas also claims that 40 patients have died in recent days, including three premature infants due to the failure of incubators caused by power outages. The World Health Organization has stated that three days without electricity, water, and very weak internet have severely damaged Shifa Hospital's ability to provide medical services, significantly increasing patient mortality. Tedros Adhanom, the Director-General of the WHO, stated that the hospital has lost its function as a treatment center. The fate of citizens, patients, and medical staff trapped in the besieged Shifa Hospital has become a focal point of international concern, including from the United States. Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry, told Reuters that around 100 corpses are decomposing inside the hospital, and there is no way to remove them. He added that they have no cover or protection from the Red Cross. Dr. Ahmad al-Makhlalati, a surgeon at Shifa Hospital, told Reuters that the main danger right now is the decomposition of bodies inside the hospital, which will spread various infections. Burying 120 corpses requires a lot of equipment and will take hours to complete. This doctor stated that yesterday, doctors had to perform surgery without oxygen, making general anesthesia impossible. According to Reuters, after the death of three infants, thirty-six other newborns remain in the hospital's neonatal section, and without fuel for generators, eight infants are placed in one crib, and efforts are being made to keep them warm as much as possible. Israel announced that it would provide a portable battery-operated incubator to the medical staff to transfer the remaining newborns, but a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry told Reuters that no preparations have yet been made for such an evacuation. He emphasized that there is no opposition to transferring newborns to hospitals in Egypt, the West Bank, or even Israel. Israel denies besieging Shifa Hospital, claiming that it has provided routes for individuals inside the hospital to exit. Doctors and officials inside the hospital say this is not true, and those attempting to leave the hospital are attacked. Medical officials in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, say that more than 11,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, about 40 percent of whom are children, and countless others are trapped under rubble. About two-thirds of Gaza's 2.3 million population have become homeless. Israeli forces began a ground assault on Gaza at the end of October, and since then, the siege around Shifa Hospital has tightened. Joe Biden, the President of the United States, has called for the protection of hospitals. On Monday, November 13, the Israeli army released images of weapons that Hamas had stored in the basement of the Rantisi Children's Hospital. Hamas claims these images are staged. In another development, Palestinian doctors and local media reported that Israeli forces killed at least eight Palestinians in the West Bank on Tuesday, November 14, seven of whom were killed in clashes in the town of Tulkarm near the border with Israel. The Israeli army and police stated that their forces were dispatched to arrest suspected militants in Tulkarm but were attacked, resulting in several armed Palestinian men being killed in the subsequent clash. The army and police stated that Israel targeted a group of Palestinians with an airstrike. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that this airstrike was carried out by a drone, killing three people in the process. No armed Palestinian group has yet claimed to have lost members in this incident. The armed wing of Hamas claims it is ready to release 70 women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day ceasefire. Israel has demanded the release of 100 hostages and rejected the ceasefire proposal, stating that Hamas would use it to regroup, but has said it could agree to a 'humanitarian pause.' Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, told reporters that Washington is willing to see a longer pause in attacks as part of the hostage release framework.