Twenty-nine premature babies evacuated from Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital arrived in Egypt this Monday through the Rafah border crossing, Egyptian state media Al Qahera News reported.

The babies were evacuated on Sunday from the hospital, which the World Health Organization (WHO) described as a “death zone”, to be taken to the United Arab Emirates hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

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In total, 31 premature babies were evacuated from Al Shifa, but there were no immediate explanations as to why only 29 reached Egypt.

Al Qahera News television reported that the infants are in incubators connected to medical equipment.

In principle, the hospital in El Arish, about 45 kilometers west of Rafah will not be able to accommodate all the babies, a medical source told AFP, adding that some will be transferred to Ismailia (200 km) or the capital, Cairo ( 300 km).

The WHO, which participated in the evacuation of the babies to the Emirates hospital in Rafah, stated on Sunday that “eleven of them are in critical condition” and that all are suffering from “serious infections.”

The babies are not accompanied by their families, as the Hamas Health Ministry was unable to locate them, according to the WHO.

The Israeli military launched an operation in Al Shifa on Wednesday and accused Hamas of hiding a base in the hospital complex.

Hamas launched a bloody attack in Israel on October 7 that left nearly 1,200 dead, according to Israeli authorities.

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The Israeli army is carrying out a response offensive in the Gaza Strip, where at least 13,000 people have died, including 5,500 minors, according to the Hamas government.