(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/30/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called for the United States and the United Nations to launch investigations of reports that Israeli forces left newborn babies to die and decompose in a hospital seized in Gaza.
Agence France Presse (AFP), a French international news agency, reports that five premature babies were found dead at the hospital in Gaza City during the pause in fighting. Israeli soldiers reportedly blocked access to the intensive care unit at the Al-Nasr pediatric facility, but doctors were able to return Tuesday night. The doctors reportedly found the babies “partly decomposed.” The Israeli army did not respond to AFP’s questions.
A disturbing video of the dead babies went viral on X (Twitter).
“If Israeli forces did indeed leave the babies to die and decompose in their hospital beds, those responsible must be condemned by the United States and held accountable by the international community, including the United Nations,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “This heartbreaking incident is just another indication of the dehumanization of the Palestinian people not only by the genocidal far-right Israeli government, but also by those who are actively supporting and enabling its campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”
He noted that CAIR recently called on President Biden to personally intervene to save the more than 30 premature babies left to die in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza after a forced evacuation of the facility by Israeli troops.
Last week, CAIR condemned another Israeli “war crime of the day” after more than 50 members of the same family were massacred by Israel in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza.
Hooper added that CAIR also condemned Israel’s killing of patients in their beds at the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza and the killing of more than 10 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a UN school in the Bureij refugee camp.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR previously said the “Israeli genocide must be stopped” after an attack on a UN school in Gaza killed least 50 people.
CAIR said the international community must take action as UN agencies report that Palestinians now face starvation, disease, and genocide at the hands of the Israeli government.
[NOTE: More than 100,000 Americans have used CAIR’s action alert to contact their members of Congress and call for an end to the violence and the renewal of U.S.-led efforts to end the occupation. SEE: Urge Your Members of Congress to Address Root Cause of Mideast Violence]
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-999-8292, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com