AFP
Hundreds of patients were trapped and thousands of people sought shelter around Gaza's largest hospital on Monday, as Israeli troops and Hamas fighters battled near the compound.
The Al-Shifa facility in Gaza City has become a focal point in the territory's bloodiest-ever war, which erupted five weeks ago.
On October 7, Hamas launched a wave of attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
Israel's relentless campaign in response has killed at least 11,180 people in Gaza, including 4,609 children, according to the Hamas government's media office.
On Sunday, witnesses at the hospital told AFP that "violent fighting" raged throughout the night.
The sounds of small arms fire and aerial bombardments were echoing across the sprawling complex, amid reports that the infirm -- including children -- were dying due to lack of basic provisions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies said as many as 3,000 patients and staff are sheltering inside without adequate fuel, water, or food.
Doctors reported two incubated babies died after power was cut in the neonatal unit and a man had died when his ventilator shut down.
"Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore," said WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after making contact with on-the-ground staff.
"It's been three days without electricity, without water," he said, describing the situation inside as "dire and perilous."
Twenty of Gaza's 36 hospitals are "no longer functioning", according to the UN's humanitarian agency.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned Hamas for using "hospitals and civilians as human shields" while urging Israel to show "maximum restraint".
Israel says that Hamas militants -- who also took 240 people hostage during their October 7 attacks -- are hiding inside the facility and underground tunnel complexes.
President Isaac Herzog has gone as far as describing Al-Shifa as Hamas's operational "headquarters", but denied that Israeli forces had targeted the facility.
AFP
