International doctors and journalists say Israeli forces are moving towards the largest hospital in Khan Younis, meaning patients and those who sought shelter inside the hospital must flee.
Dozens of people with blankets and mattresses leave the Al Nasser hospital complex in southern Gaza.
American doctor Thaer Ahmad, one of a team of American and British doctors from the NGO MedGlobal working at the hospital, told CNN that the Israeli army was closing in.
“The hospital is shaking and there is panic,” the American doctor said in a voice message sent to CNN from Al Nasser Hospital, where the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
Earlier, the Israeli army said that Hamas had recently carried out an attack on Israel, claiming that the attack was carried out from within the vicinity of the hospital.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of exploiting civilians as human shields by using hospitals and nearby areas as military sites.
Earlier, Israel’s defense minister said that the intensive phase of its military offensive in Gaza would soon end.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip as fighting between Israel and Hamas passed the 100-day milestone.
“We need an urgent humanitarian ceasefire. To ensure that sufficient aid reaches where it is needed. To facilitate the release of the hostages. To put out the flames of a wider war, because the longer the conflict in Gaza lasts, the greater the risk of escalation and wrong assessments,” said Guterres at a press conference in New York.
Meanwhile, Hamas broadcast a new video purportedly showing the dead bodies of two Israeli hostages, AFP reported.
In the absence of confirmation from Israeli authorities, AFP is not naming the hostages it claims are in the videos.
The video also allegedly shows a third Israeli hostage saying that the two hostages were “killed in IDF strikes,” referring to Israeli airstrikes. That information also could not be confirmed.
About half of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas in its incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, were released during a brief truce in November, but Israel says 132 hostages remain in Gaza and 25 have died in captivity.
