A baby died and dozens more patients were at risk from Israeli fire around Gaza's largest hospital where Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades said were engaged in violent clashes on Saturday. Israel said it had killed a Hamas fighter, who had stopped another hospital from being evacuated.
"We are engaged in violent clashes in the vicinity of Al Shifa Medical Complex, Al-Nasr neighborhood, and Al-Shati camp in Gaza," the Islamic Jihad posted on social media. The Al-Nasr neighborhood is home to several major hospitals.
Al Shifa hospital staff said patients could die if they were moved and Palestinian officials said Israeli weapons fire made it dangerous for others to leave. Most of the hospital staff and people sheltering at the hospital had left but 500 patients were still there, Dr Ahmed al-Mokhallalati told Reuters.
Read Israel bombs Al-Shifa Hospital ICU; injuries reported
Ashraf Al-Qidra, who represents the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, said on Saturday that Israeli shelling had killed a patient in intensive care. The hospital suspended operations after fuel ran out, he said, adding: “As a result, one new-born baby died in the incubator, where there are 45 babies.”
Al-Qidra said that Israeli army snipers on the rooftops of buildings near the hospital fired into the medical complex from time to time, limiting people's ability to move. "We are besieged inside the Al Shifa Medical Complex, and the [Israeli] occupation has targeted most of the buildings inside," he said.
Clashes all night
Residents said Israeli troops, who began a war to eliminate Hamas after it staged a bloody cross-border assault on October 7, had been clashing with Hamas fighters all night in and around Gaza City where the hospital is located.
An Israeli military spokesperson was asked at a briefing if troops planned to enter Gaza hospitals at some point. He said: “The hospitals need to be evacuated in order to deal with Hamas. We intend on dealing with Hamas who have turned hospitals into fortified positions.”
Hamas insists it does not use hospitals for its military purposes and has asked the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to send missions to Shifa to investigate the Israeli allegations.
Read more Israel faces pressure over Gaza deaths as fighting rages near hospitals
Israel reduced the death toll by 200 from the Hamas daring raids across the Gaza border on October 7. But said on Saturday rockets were still being fired from Gaza into southern Israel. Palestinian officials said on Friday that 11,078 Gaza residents had been killed – around 40% of them children.
Qidra, the Gaza health ministry spokesman, said there was no electricity at the Al Shifa hospital, putting the babies and other vulnerable patients at risk. At another hospital, Al-Quds, medical teams worked on patients by torchlight, according to video footage released by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
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