Two premature babies die in Gaza hospital due to power blackout

Two premature babies have died due to power cuts at Gaza's largest hospital, Physicians for Human Rights Israel said Saturday, citing doctors there, as fighting rages around the Al-Shifa complex.

"As a result of the lack of electricity, we can report that the neonatal intensive care unit has stopped working. Two premature infants have died, and there is a real risk to the lives of 37 other premature infants" at Al-Shifa hospital, the Israeli doctors' group said in a statement.

No fuel has entered Gaza in more than five weeks of war, prompting multiple hospitals and clinics relying on generators to shut down.

"The hospital is besieged, with no option to bring in the corpses and injured people sprawled outside. There is no movement in or out of the hospital," Physicians for Human Rights Israel said.

The Israeli military has denied there is a siege at the hospital, where thousands of residents have taken shelter, as troops battle Palestinian militants in the area.

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Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard throughout Saturday from AFP's live camera, situated a few hundred metres from Al-Shifa hospital.

"The picture we are now seeing at Shifa is no longer of a humanitarian catastrophe -- it is a collective death sentence," Physicians for Human Rights Israel said.