Israeli strikes hit near several hospitals in Gaza City early Friday as the military pushed deeper into dense urban neighbourhoods in its battle with Hamas militants, prompting increasing numbers of civilians to flee toward the south of the besieged territory. Israel has accused Hamas fighters of hiding in hospitals and using the Shifa Hospital complex as its main command centre, which the militant group and hospital staff deny, saying Israel is creating a pretext to strike it. Increasing number of people have been living in and around Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, hoping it will be safer than their homes or United Nations shelters in the north, several of which have been hit repeatedly. Israeli troops were around 3 km (2 miles) from the hospital, according to its director.Israel struck the Shifa courtyard and the obstetrics department early on Friday, according to the head of the Hamas-run media office in Gaza, Salama Maarouf. A video at the scene recorded the sound of incoming fire waking people up in their makeshift shelters in the courtyard, followed by screams for an ambulance. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza later said one person had been killed at Shifa Hospital and several were wounded.Earlier, crowds of Palestinian families stretching as far as the eye could see were walking south to escape Israeli airstrikes and the ground battle raging between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters. The accelerating exodus to the south came as Israel agreed to start implementing a four-hour humanitarian pause each day and to open a second route for people to flee the north, the White House said. While 1,400 Israelis were killed in the Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, the death toll on the Palestinian side has exceeded 10,000 with a majority of them being women and children. Follow this space for more inputs:
Israeli strikes hit near several hospitals in Gaza City early Friday as the military pushed deeper into dense urban neighbourhoods in its battle with Hamas militants, prompting increasing numbers of civilians to flee toward the south of the besieged territory. Israel has accused Hamas fighters of hiding in hospitals and using the Shifa Hospital complex as its main command centre, which the militant group and hospital staff deny, saying Israel is creating a pretext to strike it. Increasing number of people have been living in and around Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, hoping it will be safer than their homes or United Nations shelters in the north, several of which have been hit repeatedly. Israeli troops were around 3 km (2 miles) from the hospital, according to its director.Israel struck the Shifa courtyard and the obstetrics department early on Friday, according to the head of the Hamas-run media office in Gaza, Salama Maarouf. A video at the scene recorded the sound of incoming fire waking people up in their makeshift shelters in the courtyard, followed by screams for an ambulance. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza later said one person had been killed at Shifa Hospital and several were wounded.Earlier, crowds of Palestinian families stretching as far as the eye could see were walking south to escape Israeli airstrikes and the ground battle raging between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters. The accelerating exodus to the south came as Israel agreed to start implementing a four-hour humanitarian pause each day and to open a second route for people to flee the north, the White House said. While 1,400 Israelis were killed in the Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, the death toll on the Palestinian side has exceeded 10,000 with a majority of them being women and children. Follow this space for more inputs: