Gaza babies' lives at risk as Israel blocks fuel used in hospitals

Babies receiving critical care in Gaza risk becoming much sicker or even dying in the coming days as the enclave runs out of fuel and hospitals are forced to turn off incubators, doctors warn

Babies receiving critical care in Gaza risk becoming much sicker or even dying in the coming days as the enclave runs out of fuel and hospitals are forced to turn off incubators, doctors warn.

Walking down a row of incubators in the neonatal unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra, head of the facility's pediatric unit, shared each baby's story one by one.

"This baby is a full-term baby," he told NBC News' crew on the ground Thursday, gesturing at a tiny figure tucked into an incubator, wrapped in only his diaper and with an oxygen tube fixed to his nose with surgical tape.

"As you can see, he is depending on the mechanical ventilation," Al-Farra said. "If the electricity was cut off ... this baby will not survive."

Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra, head of the pediatric department in Nasser Hospital, talks about a premature baby at Nasser Hospital on Thursday.NBC NewsHis warning evokes memories of early on in the war, when a number of infants died at hospitals in northern Gaza after repeated warnings that a military assault in the area would end up being fatal for the babies.