A look at the top developments from Israel’s war on Gaza:

  • At least two premature babies died in the neonatal intensive care unit of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital on Saturday after the facility lost power, reported Al Jazeera. Thirty-seven other babies in the neonatal intensive care unit are also at risk of losing their lives as the hospital runs out of fuel, said the hospital’s director Mohammed Abu Salmiya. The fuel provides electricity to the incubators, allowing warm temperatures and a constant oxygen flow.
  • Fighting near the al-Shifa Hospital has increased in the last few days, reported the Associated Press. Salmiya said that the Israeli troops were “shooting at anyone outside or inside the hospital” and prevented movement between buildings on Saturday. While the Israeli military has alleged that the Palestinian militant group Hamas has established command posts in and underneath the hospital, the staff of the facility has denied the claims. Israel has yet to provide any evidence to support its allegations.
  • Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed clashes outside the al-Shifa Hospital but stated that troops would on Sunday assist in moving babies being treated there. He said that they were “speaking directly and regularly” with hospital staff. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, has said that taking control of the hospitals would be key but requires “a lot of tactical creativity”. The hospital has been sheltering thousands of people displaced due to Israel’s indiscriminate air and ground strikes.
  • The World Health Organization said early Sunday that it has lost communication with its contacts at al-Shifa. “As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts joined tens of thousands of displaced people and are fleeing the area,” it said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The United Nations body reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
  • The United Nations Development Program office in Gaza was shelled on Saturday night, said Achim Steiner, the head of the organisation. Several of those who were taking shelter at the office were killed or injured, he said. “This is wrong on every count,” he added. “Civilians, civilian infrastructure and the inviolability of UN facilities must be always protected.”
  • At least 11,078 Palestinians, including 4,506 children, have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, said the United Nations relief agency working in occupied Palestinian territories. A total of 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, most of them being civilians who were died in an attack by Hamas on October 7.
  • Leaders from across the Middle East and the surrounding region met in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh on Saturday and condemned Israel’s actions, reported AFP. Host Saudi Arabia “confirms that it holds the occupation [Israeli] authorities responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people,” said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We are certain that the only way to guarantee security, peace and stability in the region is to end the occupation, siege and the settlements.”
  • This came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Saturday that Tel Aviv would retain security control in Gaza after the war is over, reported the Associated Press. Under this arrangement, Israeli forces would be able to “enter Gaza freely to hunt down militants”, he said. For now, “the war against [Hamas] is advancing with full force, and it has one goal, to win”, said Netanyahu. “There is no alternative to victory.”
  • Netanyahu also indicated that Israel would oppose the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza after the war, The Times of Israel reported. The Palestinian Authority, led by Hamas’ rival group Fatah, exercises partial control over certain areas in the West Bank. Netanyahu said on Saturday that Gaza cannot be ruled by “a civil authority that educates its children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to eliminate the State of Israel… an authority that pays the families of murderers [amounts] based on the number they murdered… an authority whose leader still has not condemned the terrible [October 7] massacre 30 days later.”