Israel besieges two more Gaza hospitals, Palestinians say

GAZA STRIP, Palestine

Israeli forces besieged two more Gaza hospitals on Sunday, pinning down medical teams under heavy gunfire, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, while Israel claimed capturing 480 militants in continued clashes at Gaza's main Al Shifa Hospital.

Israel says hospitals in the Palestinian enclave, where war has been raging for over five months, are used by Hamas militants as bases. It has released videos and pictures supporting the claim, but Hamas and medical staff deny the accusations.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said one of its staff was killed when Israeli tanks suddenly pushed back into areas around Al Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, amid heavy bombardment and gunfire.

Israeli forces began operating around Al Amal, the military said, following "precise intelligence ... which indicated that terrorists are using civilian infrastructure for terror activities in the area of Al Amal."

Israeli armored forces sealed off Al Amal Hospital and carried out extensive bulldozing operations in its vicinity, the Red Crescent said in a statement.

"All of our teams are in extreme danger at the moment and are completely immobilized," it said.

The Red Crescent said Israeli forces were now demanding the complete evacuation of staff, patients and displaced people from Al Amal's premises and were firing smoke bombs into the area to force out its occupants.

A displaced Palestinian was killed inside the hospital compound after being hit in the head by Israeli fire, the Red Crescent said in a later update.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said dozens of patients and medical staffers had been detained by Israeli forces at Al Shifa in Gaza City in the enclave's north that has been under Israeli control for a week.

The Hamas-run government media office said Israeli forces had killed five Palestinian doctors during their seven-day-old swoop on Al Shifa.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that report. It said earlier that it had killed over 170 gunmen in the raid, which the Palestinian Health Ministry said had also caused the deaths of five patients.

Al Shifa is one of the few healthcare facilities even partially operational in north Gaza, and had also been housing some of the nearly 2 million civilians – over 80 percent of Gaza's population – displaced by the war.

"Right now, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists are barricading themselves inside Shifa hospital wards," said Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Hagari said Hamas gunmen were firing at soldiers from inside the emergency and maternity wards of the hospital, and also firing mortars at troops in the hospital, causing damage.

The Hamas-run government media office said they "categorically refute this."

"How can they claim this while their soldiers roam and frolic inside the complex with ease, conducting interrogations with displaced persons, patients and the wounded," said media office director Ismail Al-Thawabta.