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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
John Dunne

Red Cross says dead babies found in abandoned Gaza hospital is 'unspeakable tragedy'

The Red Cross has said that footage that reportedly shows the bodies of five Palestinian children left to die in the Al-Nasr Hospital in Gaza represents an "unspeakable tragedy."

Censored video shared by Arabic-language news channel Al Mashhad, shows five beds filled with what are allegedly the bodies of infants. 

The room appears to be abandoned with non-functioning hospital equipment and medical supplies strewn everywhere.

The Switzerland-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) said it was able to "confirm that it documented the discovery of five infants dead and in a state of decomposition" in a neonatal ward of the Al-Nasr Hospital.

A Red Cross spokesperson backed up Euro-Med's statement, telling MailOnline: "Footage circulating of deceased newborn babies represents an unspeakable tragedy, an unacceptable reality of how civilians - including babies and children - pay the price in conflict.

"Teams are deeply concerned about the safety of patients in the north. The ICRC is fully committed to provide support to evacuate the sick and wounded, and call for the necessary conditions in place to do that."

The IDF said at the time of military action around medical facilities that it had opened up evacuation corridors from Al-Nasr, as well as the nearby Al-Shifa and Al-Rantsi hospitals. 

Video shared at the time shows people, including patients and staff waving white flags under orders from the IDF to show they were not combatants.

The IDF has accused Hamas of using hospitals across Gaza as hideouts and command centres since it began its retaliation against the Hamas attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October.

The force used this as justification to bomb areas around major hospitals, including Al-Nasr. 

More than 1,400 were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel and 240 hostages taken. A temporary ceasefire to enable some of those to be released in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners ended on Friday.

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