Gaza Hospitals Overrun With Pregnant Women And Newborns — Despite U.S. Promises Of Aid

More than 100 days into the U.S.-backed Israeli offensive in Gaza, women in the besieged Palestinian enclave are giving birth in overcrowded shelters or tents, premature babies are dying without access to hospital incubators, and dire food shortages are leaving newborns malnourished.

Despite promises by the U.S. and other governments to use a United Nations Security Council resolution passed last month to dramatically increase humanitarian aid for Gaza, aid experts say they have yet to see a real improvement — instead, they say, conditions are worsening. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s special humanitarian envoy for the crisis is preparing to leave office, and an internal U.S. government estimate circulated this week identified that Israel, which is receiving huge American support for its fight against the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, is barring aid for some of the most desperate people in Gaza, including some who have ties to the U.S.

“Whatever marginal improvement there has been … it’s nowhere near the scale that’s required at this point. Where there are improvements, they’re modest and fragile — they could be undone by Israeli military actions or Israeli political decisions,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of the nonprofit Refugees International, who previously worked on humanitarian issues in the Biden and Obama administrations.

Critical reproductive and maternal health care have especially deteriorated, according to CARE, a humanitarian organization focused on helping women and girls in conflict.

In Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where tens of thousands of people fled amid Israeli evacuation orders, there’s now only one active hospital that was designed to accommodate 30 to 40 daily appointments for