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Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital Suspends Operations

Internally displaced Palestinians are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023. (Photo by Khader Al Zanoun / AFP)
Internally displaced Palestinians are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023. (Photo by Khader Al Zanoun / AFP)
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Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital Suspends Operations

Internally displaced Palestinians are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023. (Photo by Khader Al Zanoun / AFP)
Internally displaced Palestinians are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023. (Photo by Khader Al Zanoun / AFP)

The spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said that operations in Al Shifa hospital complex, the largest in the Palestinian enclave, were suspended on Saturday after it ran out of fuel.
"As a result, one newborn baby died inside the incubator, where there are 45 babies," Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza told Reuters.
Israel's military, which residents said had been fighting Hamas gunmen all night in and around Gaza City where the hospital is located, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"The situation is worse than anyone can imagine. We are besieged inside the Al Shifa Medical Complex, and the occupation has targeted most of the buildings inside," Qidra said by telephone.
The Israeli military has said that Hamas militants have placed command centers under Shifa hospital and others in Gaza, making them vulnerable to being considered military targets.
Hamas has denied using civilians as human shields and health officials say growing numbers of Israeli strikes on or near hospitals put at risk patients, medical staff and thousands of evacuees who have taken shelter in and near their buildings.
"The occupation forces are firing on people moving inside the complex, which is limiting our ability to move from one department to another. Some people tried to leave the hospital and they were fired at," Qidra said, adding that there was no electricity and no internet.

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Four Bodies, Four Survivors Recovered from Egypt Red Sea Sinking, Says Governor

Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)
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Four Bodies, Four Survivors Recovered from Egypt Red Sea Sinking, Says Governor

Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits prior to the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March. (Red Sea Governorate on Facebook)

Rescuers on Tuesday recovered four bodies and four survivors a day after a diving boat capsized off Egypt's eastern coast, Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said, with eight people still missing.

Among the survivors were two Belgians, one Swiss national and one Egyptian, the governor said, bringing the total number of survivors from the vessel to 32. The four dead have not yet been identified and eight people remain missing.

"Rescue operations are ongoing today, supported by a military helicopter and a frigate in addition to multiple divers," Hanafi told AFP.

The vessel was carrying 31 tourists of multiple nationalities and a 13-member crew when it was hit by a large wave early on Monday, leading it to capsize near Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt. The "Sea Story" had embarked on a multi-day diving trip on Sunday and had been due to dock on Friday at the town of Hurghada, 200 kilometres (124 miles) north.

The governor on Monday said the boat had sunk within 5-7 minutes of its impact with the wave, leaving some passengers -- among them European, Chinese and American tourists -- unable to escape their cabins in time.

- Survivors -

Rescuers from the military and a passing tourist boat had pulled 28 people from the waters on Monday. According to a source at a hospital in Marsa Alam, six tourists and three Egyptians were admitted with minor injuries and discharged on Monday.

The tourists included "two Germans, two Britons, one Spaniard and one Swiss national," the hospital administrator told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

According to the governor's office, the boat was carrying tourists from Belgium, Britain, China, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Among the missing are two Polish and two Finnish tourists, according to both countries' foreign ministries.

Authorities have said the vessel was fully licensed and had passed all its inspection checks. A preliminary investigation showed no technical fault.

The Marsa Alam area experienced at least two similar boat accidents earlier this year but there were no fatalities. The Red Sea coast is a major tourist destination in Egypt, a country of 107 million that is in the grip of a serious economic crisis.

Nationally, the tourism sector employs two million people and generates more than 10 percent of its GDP.

Dozens of dive boats crisscross between Red Sea coral reefs and islands off Egypt's eastern coast every day, where safety regulations are robust but unevenly enforced.

Earlier this month, 30 people were rescued from a sinking dive boat near the Red Sea's Daedalus reef. In June, two dozen French tourists were evacuated safely before their boat sank in a similar accident.

Last year, three British tourists died when a fire broke out on their yacht.