2023–2024 Gaza Strip preterm births

The Gaza Strip faced a premature baby crisis during the Israel–Hamas war. The situation escalated when the Israeli Defense Forces raided Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Nasr Children's Hospital, and Kamal Adwan Hospital. Reports of premature babies in intensive care, added to concerns about the rising number of preterm births in Gaza. The newborns gained global attention.

Background
Starting on 21 October, Medical Aid for Palestinians and UNICEF issued an "urgent warning" that 130 premature babies would die if fuel did not reach Gaza hospitals soon. On 23 October, officials in Gaza confirmed that due to the Israeli siege on fuel, when hospitals lost electricity, premature babies in NICUs were at risk of death.

Al-Shifa Hospital
On 11 November, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stated the army would help evacuate babies from al-Shifa Hospital, but a Gaza Health Ministry spokesman stated Israel had not provided "any mechanism to get the babies out to a safer hospital." The same day, Physicians for Human Rights stated two premature babies had died due to the loss of electricity. Two additional babies died soon after. The babies were reported to be suffering from severe hypoglycemia — insufficient blood sugar.

On 15 November, Israel launched a raid on al-Shifa Hospital, where three dozen premature babies were still sheltering. The director of Al-Shifa stated Israel's claim that it had provided incubators to premature babies was false. One mother reported believing that her premature son was going to die. On 19 November, 31 premature babies at al-Shifa were evacuated by the Palestinian Red Crescent, WHO, and UNOCHA to southern Gaza. They were planned to be moved to Egypt with their families the following day. On 20 November, 28 of the babies were evacuated to Egypt. Only eight were accompanied by their parents, as the others were orphans, or their parents were unable to leave Gaza. At least two sets of parents were reunited with their babies in Egypt after being added to an urgent list of medical travelers. As of November 20, 2023 eight babies were reported as having died at al-Shifa during that month.

Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital
On 10 November, Doctors Without Borders reported that evacuating medical workers at Al-Nasr Children's Hospital had to leave babies in incubators after the IDF bombed the pediatric hospital. On 29 November, video footage from Al-Nasr showed the aftermath of the hospital's evacuation, with the five premature babies dead still in their incubators.*
 * The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The Red Cross stated they were "devastated" by the footage and denied they were responsible for their abandonment.
 * The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The Red Cross stated they were "devastated" by the footage and denied they were responsible for their abandonment.
 * The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The Red Cross stated they were "devastated" by the footage and denied they were responsible for their abandonment.
 * The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The Red Cross stated they were "devastated" by the footage and denied they were responsible for their abandonment.
 * The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The Red Cross stated they were "devastated" by the footage and denied they were responsible for their abandonment.
 * The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor confirmed the Al-Nasr infants' deaths. They stated the IDF had indicated to hospital staff they would evacuate the babies, though the IDF denied any involvement. In a recording of a phone call between COGAT and a medical official, the IDF official confirmed ambulances would retrieve patients from al-Nasr, but hospital officials stated the ambulances never arrived. The Red Cross stated they were "devastated" by the footage and denied they were responsible for their abandonment.

Other hospitals
In mid-December, Israel began a military siege and raid on the Kamal Adwan hospital. On 14 December, the Gaza Health Ministry reported IDF soldiers had prevented medical staff from continuing support to 12 babies in intensive care. Three premature babies had died at Kamal Adwan in November following a power outage.

On 20 February 2024, the deputy director of the Al-Helal Al-Emairati Maternity Hospital in Rafah stated "several" premature babies had died in the hospital and said that the "health sector has been completely destroyed." On 21 February, the Al-Helal hospital stated it was struggling to "provide adequate care" to premature and newborn babies due to the conflict nearby.

Rise in preterm births
A pediatric doctor at the Emirati Hospital in Rafah, stated the number of premature babies born in Gaza had risen sharply. On 23 November, Oxfam stated the number of premature births had risen by nearly one-third due to factors like stress and trauma. In February 2024, the UN Population Fund reported that the anxiety mothers were experiencing due to incessant bombings and fleeing for safety had led to a rise in premature births.

Destruction of embryos
A single strike on Gaza City's Al Basma IVF center, Gaza's largest IVF centre, destroyed most of the frozen IVF Embryos in the Gaza Strip. It destroyed 4000 human embryos and an additional 1000 samples of frozen sperms and eggs. The embryos were stored in liquid nitrogen, which did not require electricity to maintain; they only needed to be topped up once per month. But the blast blew the lid off 5 tanks, causing the liquid to quickly evaporate, which caused the embryos to defrost and die. They are 9 or more clinics in the Gaza Strip that perform IVF related procedures, but most of the embryos were stored in 5 liquid nitrogen tanks at the at the Al Basma center. The clinic was established in 1997 by obstetrician and gynecologist Bahaeldeen Ghalayini. Bahaeldeen Ghalayini said a single Israeli shell struck the part of the centre where there embryos were stored on the ground floor, but he said he did not know if the lab had been specifically targeted by the strike.