Evening recap: Gaza death toll reaches 12,000, while premature babies die

Good evening Middle East Eye readers. 

Gaza’s government media office announced on Friday that the death toll for Gaza since the start of the war on 7 October has now reached at least 12,000. The figure includes at least 5,000 children and 3,300 women.

Meanwhile, Israel’s raid on al-Shifa Hospital is continuing, with four premature babies now pronounced dead, and five more described as being in critical condition. 

Medical officials say there is not a “single drop of water,” inside the hospital, while Israeli forces also ‘stole over 145 dead bodies’ from inside the hospital and a mass grave in the courtyard. 

Here are some of the main updates from today.

• There has been a large-scale outbreak of infections due to the lack of clean water. The infections are affecting around 30,000 people, the majority of them women and children.
• Most intensive care patients who were on ventilators in al-Shifa Hospital have now died due to lack of oxygen and fuel.
• 25 hospitals have now been rendered out of service as a result of Israeli bombardment and a lack of fuel and electricity. 
• An Israeli military spokesperson said that they will “reach Hamas wherever it exists, including in the south”. The statement comes after the Israeli military has dropped leaflets in south Gaza telling residents to leave their homes and go to "shelters".
• The Palestinian Red Crescent said that their emergency medical teams remain besieged at Gaza’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
• Abu Ubaida, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Friday that the group has damaged 62 Israeli military vehicles in the last four days, rendering them out of service. 
• Israeli forces surrounded hospitals across Jenin, including the Khalil Suleiman Hospital, while the military forces were conducting incursions into a refugee camp in the city. Explosions and shooting were heard from the hospital complex.