
Ahmed Muhanna, the head of Gaza's al-Awda Hospital, said health workers' morale was 'high' even amid a severe Israeli siege.

The World Health Organisation's chief said staff from the UN agency found patients 'screaming in pain' as they received medical care on the floor of an overstretched southern Gaza hospital.

Mohammed Zaqut, director general of hospitals in Gaza, said 'all 31 premature babies in Al-Shifa Hospital… have been evacuated' and said 'preparations are under way' for them to enter Egypt.

Two planes carrying the patients, many of them children, landed at Ankara airport shortly after 00:30 local time (21:30 GMT).

Despite Israel claiming it would provide safe passage for patients in Gaza's besieged hospitals, patients are out in the streets without any form of care after being forcibly evacuated.

WHO said that as casualties continue to increase in Gaza because of intensified fighting, 'intense overcrowding and disrupted health, water, and sanitation systems pose an added danger: the rapid spread of infectious diseases'.

The Palestinian Authority's health ministry said in a report on Friday that 16 out of 35 hospitals in besieged Gaza had shut down due to Israeli bombing or fuel shortages.

The World Health Organisation has reported that 101 health workers were among the over 4,333 people who had so far been confirmed dead.

Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year to inoculate tens of millions of children.

With the new Covid-19 variant Pirola spreading to at least eight countries, The New Arab looks at whether the variant has yet reached the Middle East and North Africa.