As premature babies fight for their lives in Gaza, medical teams lack essential equipment such as ultrasounds, incubators, medical supplies, and even premature infant formula to keep them alive.
From the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported Al-Helou Hospital in northern Gaza, Dr. Joanne Perry shares her experience treating premature babies in the facility’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
It started with two babies sharing one incubator—this is already completely unacceptable and shocking to see. Then it increased to three, and last week we saw five babies in one incubator. With all the attacks on health care facilities, today there are just 36 incubators in northern Gaza compared to 126 before October 2023.
On July 14, 2025, a baby who could have survived was lost because the power went out and therefore the oxygen supply was cut off.
