The Israeli military has surrounded Gaza’s biggest hospital where it claims Hamas is hiding its underground headquarters and is closing in around it.
IDF troops are said to be about 270 yards away from the Al-Shifa hospital, where an estimated 60,000 people have taken refuge, many in a makeshift camp.
Heavy fighting has been reported in recent days around the medical facility as Israeli troops battle through the narrow streets in their operation to destroy Hamas.
Overnight, Hamas-run local authorities accused the IDF of shelling areas around hospitals in the north of the coastal strip, including Al-Shifa, as well as the Rantisi children’s hospital and the Indonesian hospital.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry has also reported explosions from around the Indonesian hospital while another, Al Quds Hospital, is reported to be surrounded by tanks. A person inside the hospital told the BBC of hearing ‘clashes and explosions’.
The IDF has denied that it had targeted the Indonesian hospital, saying: ‘The IDF did not target the hospital. The IDF does not target civilians and operates in accordance with international law.’
Officials in Gaza said today’s strikes on Al-Shifa hospital had killed 13 people.
‘Thirteen martyrs and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on Al-Shifa compound today’ in central Gaza City, a government statement said, giving a toll AFP news agency said it was not immediately able to independently verify.
Shocking footage from Al-Shifa Hospital’s courtyard overnight appeared to show one of the strikes, although it was impossible to verify its origin from the footage. Another clip also showed the bloody aftermath of another attack this morning.
Amid the uncertainty of which side was behind the strikes, Israel continued to rain down missiles on other parts of Gaza. Pictures looking into the strip from outside showed huge plumes of smoke and dirt being blasted hundreds of feet into the air.
Palestinian officials say that more than 10,800 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its bombardment of the territory in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack, which saw 1,400 killed in the Jewish state and 240 taken hostage.
(DAILY MAIL)
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNEÂ
and then