Two babies have died and dozens more are at risk at Gaza’s largest hospital after it ran out of power, Palestinian officials have said.
Another patient in intensive care was killed in Israeli shelling that hit the al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian health ministry said.
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The hospital has had to suspend all operations after it ran out of fuel, spokesperson Ashraf al Qidra said.
Israel claims the hospital is a command centre for the Hamas militant group but denies endangering the hospital.
Hamas says it does not use hospitals in this way and medical staff have repeatedly denied Israel’s claims.
Israeli authorities have called for doctors, patients and thousands of evacuees who have taken refuge at hospitals in northern Gaza to leave amid intense shelling and fighting.
Most of those sheltering in al Shifa hospital have fled but around 500 patients remain with medical staff saying they will die if they are moved.
“It’s totally a war zone, it’s a totally scary atmosphere here in the hospital,” Ahmed al-Mokhallalati, a senior plastic surgeon at al Shifa hospital, said. “It’s continuous bombardment for more than 24 hours now.”
Israel said on Saturday it was ready to evacuate babies from the facility.
Meanwhile, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
One of those killed was from the town of Jenin while the others were from Arraba, a town to the southwest.
Fighting near the ah Shifa hospital and other areas of northern Gaza has been intensifying and supplies have run out.
Officials said on Friday one person was killed and several were wounded after missiles landed in a courtyard of the hospital.
Israel’s military later said that a misfired projectile launched by Palestinian militants in Gaza had hit the hospital.
Patients have ‘started to die’
Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of al Shifa hospital said: “There is no electricity. Medical devices stopped. Patients, especially those in intensive care, started to die.”
Speaking by phone over the sound of gunfire and explosions, he added that Israeli troops are “shooting at anyone outside or inside the hospital” and have prevented movement between the buildings in the compound.
But the former Israeli ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, cast doubt on the accuracy of reports from hospital doctors, saying: “Ultimately, the hospital has been turned into a military site. There is Hamas’s key command and control, and from there, there is a network of tunnels going literally for kilometre after kilometre after kilometre underground as part of their subterranean terror machine”
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What we know about the hostages in Gaza
When questioned why Israel had not released evidence of Hamas using the hospital as a military base, Mr Regev told Sky News it would be forthcoming.
“Hamas leaders talk about sacrificing literally tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians for their crazy cause.
“When they’re gone, when we’ve defeated them and they’re no longer ruling Gaza and their military machine has been destroyed, ultimately the people of Gaza will be better off.”
So far, more than 150,000 civilians have fled the north, according to UN monitors. Although tens of thousands remain – many sheltering at hospitals and UN facilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel’s battle to crush Hamas militants will continue with “full force”.
A ceasefire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are released, he said in a televised address on Saturday.
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The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, which is now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarised and Israel would retain security control there.
Such a position is at odds with the post-war scenarios floated by Israel’s closest ally, the US, which has said it opposes an Israeli reoccupation of the territory.
As the fighting continues, Hamas said it had completely or partially destroyed more than 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza, including more than 25 vehicles in the past 48 hours.
But an Israeli military spokesperson said Hamas had lost control of northern Gaza.
Israel’s allies have backed the country’s right to defend itself since Hamas militants carried out a deadly rampage in southern Israel on 7 October, but pressure is growing on Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians.
Meanwhile, around 300,000 of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are marched through London today.
