Ashraf Al-Qidra, who represents the health ministry in Gaza, said the Al-Shifa Hospital had ceased functioning after it ran out of fuel. He said two babies had died in an incubator as a result, Reuters reports.

“We are using all and primitive means to try not to lose more lives,” Al-Qidra told Reuters.

“But unless a solution is found to provide us with fuel or electricity the patients and injured are at risk of death,” he said.

Asked about the evacuations, Al-Qidra said: “We have not been informed about any mechanism to get the babies out to a safer hospital. So far we are praying for their safety and not to lose more of them.”