Extract from ABC News
Thirty-one premature babies who have been trapped in Gaza's largest hospital will be transported to Egypt, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the Gaza Strip as of Saturday reached 12,300, including 5,000 children, according to Gaza's health authorities, since Hamas's October 7 attack and Israel's subsequent retaliation of air strikes and ground invasion.
Here are the latest developments:
Premature babies evacuated from Al-Shifa
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has said 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa Hospital have been evacuated, as scores of other critically injured patients remained stranded there after Israeli forces entered the compound.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the babies had been safely evacuated from Al-Shifa and moved to another in southern Gaza.
Their movement is "in preparation for their transfer to the Emirates Hospital in Rafah", the Palestine Red Crescent said in a post on its Facebook page.
The newborns were forced onto ordinary beds after the hospital ran out of fuel, shutting down incubators and other equipment.
A WHO team that visited the hospital on Saturday said 291 patients were still there, a greater number than previously reported, including babies in extremely critical condition, trauma patients with severely infected wounds, and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move.
After a days-long siege of the hospital and Israeli forces' entry into the compound to look for what they claimed was an extensive Hamas command bunker, food, water, and medical supplies had also run out.
Israel's military had reportedly ordered an evacuation on Saturday, which an AFP journalist heard broadcast over the hospital's loudspeakers, though Israel has denied ordering the move.
Around 2,500 displaced people, mobile patients and medical staff left Al-Shifa Hospital on Saturday morning, the WHO said, which described the hospital as a "death zone".
Hamas and hospital staff deny the allegations that the hospital was being used for militant purposes.
Israeli troops have been searching the compound for days, claiming to have found a handful of guns and other weapons, as well as the entrance to a tunnel shaft.
Hostage deal with only 'minor' challenges left: Qatar PM
A hostage deal mediated by Qatar and the US that has been negotiated for weeks now hinges on "minor" practical issues, Qatar's prime minister said on Sunday without giving details or a timeline.
"The challenges that remain in the negotiations are very minor compared to the bigger challenges, they are more logistical, they are more practical," Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Qatar has helped broker talks aiming to free some of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 attack, in return for a temporary ceasefire and the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
So far, the effort has led to the release of four hostages.
Hamas has in recent days agreed in principle to a deal mediated by Qatar that would see the release of 50 hostages.
Israel has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire or significant humanitarian pause unless all hostages were released.
The Qatar prime minister said the deal had gone through "ups and downs" in the last few weeks.
"I think that I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach a deal that can bring the people safely back to their homes," he said.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal, the Washington Post reported earlier today that there was a tentative agreement for women and children hostages to be released for a five-day ceasefire.
But the White House denied any major breakthrough, in a post on social media platform X, as did Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
According to the Times of Israel, Mr Netanyahu said that "there was no deal on the table" when asked.
On Saturday, a senior White House official said the hostage release would need to be completed before the entry of large amounts of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
Israel release video they say shows hostages in Al-Shifa Hospital
The Israeli army has released a video, which has not yet been verified, showing security camera footage of what they say was Hamas bringing in hostages from Israel into the Al-Shifa Hospital on the day of the October 7 attack.
The video, aired by chief spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, appeared to show a group of men frog-marching an individual into a hospital, to the surprise of medical staff.
A second clip showed an injured man on a gurney. Another man nearby, in civilian clothes, had an assault rifle.
Mr Hagari said during a televised address on Sunday night that additional bodies that were taken from the hospital were one Thai and one Nepali.
Hamas did not immediately comment on Mr Hagari's statements. The Palestinian Islamist group, which is the elected government in Gaza, has previously said it took some hostages to hospitals for treatment.
ABC/Wires
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