A group of 28 premature babies were evacuated from Al-Shifa hospital in the besieged Gaza Strip and taken to Egypt for urgent treatment after Palestinian officials said Israeli forces attacked another hospital in northern Gaza.

The newborns were patients at al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest medical facility, where several others had died after their incubators stopped working due to a lack of fuel as medical services collapsed during the Israeli military’s ground and air assault on Gaza City.

The babies were transported to the Al-Helal L-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday so that their condition could be stabilized before they began their journey to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Monday.

“Three babies are still in the Emirati hospital and are continuing to receive treatment,” a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman told Reuters.

“All babies are battling serious infections and continue to require medical care.”

Last week, Israeli forces seized Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza, to search for an alleged Hamas tunnel network and a command center located beneath the complex. Hamas has rejected the allegations.

During the Israeli operation, hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced people left al-Shifa and moved to the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend.

Since Al-Shifa doctors raised the alarm about the situation at the hospital for premature babies and the lack of clean water and medicine in the neonatal ward, eight infants have died, according to hospital officials.

Attack on Indonesian hospital

At another hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, at least 12 people were killed and dozens injured by artillery fire on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The ministry said hundreds of people were trapped in the facility, which was surrounded by Israeli tanks.

Journalist Anas al-Sharif described the scenes at the hospital as “chaotic.”

“There is overwhelming panic among patients,” he told Al Jazeera. “Victims are piling up on the floor.”

The WHO chief said the United Nations agency was “appalled” by the attack on the Indonesian hospital.

“Health workers and civilians should never be subjected to such horror, especially in a hospital,” wrote Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X, formerly Twitter.

.@WHO is horrified by an attack on the Indonesian hospital in #Gazawhich reportedly resulted in 12 deaths, including patients, and dozens of injuries, including critical and life-threatening injuries.

Health workers and civilians should never be subjected to such horror, and…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 20, 2023

Indonesia’s foreign minister condemned the attack on the hospital, built in 2016 and financed by Indonesia, calling it a “clear violation of international humanitarian law.”

“All countries, especially those that have close ties with Israel, must use all their influence and capabilities to pressure Israel to stop its atrocities,” Retno Marsudi said.

“We are very concerned about the fate of our colleagues and the wounded and patients [displaced] People who may still have [been] seek refuge there. No ambulance can reach them and we fear that the wounded will die,” said Nahed Abu Taaema, director of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.

Like most hospitals and clinics in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, the Indonesian hospital has largely ceased operations but is hosting patients, staff and displaced people who have sought shelter on the site following Israel’s attack on Gaza last month.

As fighting continues between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza, U.S. and Israeli officials said a Qatar-brokered deal to release some prisoners held in the Palestinian enclave and temporarily pause the fighting to allow aid to be delivered to affected civilians , move closer.

About 240 hostages were taken in a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. According to Israeli figures, around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

After the attack, Israel vowed to overthrow the armed group that has ruled Gaza since 2007 and launched a devastating bombardment and ground offensive against Gaza.

According to Palestinian officials, at least 13,000 Palestinians were killed, including at least 5,500 children.