Israeli forces have dropped leaflets warning Palestinians to leave southern Gaza, residents in the besieged city of Khan Younis have said.

It is feared the leaflets could signal Israel is planning to broaden its offensive to the south – where hundreds of thousands fled to escape its bombardment and ground assault.

Israel-Gaza live updates

They warned civilians to evacuate and said anyone in the vicinity of military positions is “putting his life in danger”.

Two reporters working for the Associated Press news agency who live east of Khan Younis confirmed they had seen the leaflets.

The Israeli military declined to comment – but defence minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that the ground offensive will eventually “include both the north and the south”, vowing to “strike Hamas wherever it is”.

Similar leaflets were dropped in northern Gaza ahead of Israel’s ground invasion, warning people to travel south.

Expanding operations to the south, where there are already daily air raids, threatens to deepen the severe humanitarian crisis in the war-torn territory.

More than 1.5 million people have been displaced in Gaza, with most travelling to the south, where food, water and supplies continue to dwindle.

The area was cut off from the outside world for the fourth time when communication services went down due to a lack of power, according to the Palestinian telecoms provider.

Gaza has experienced three previous mass communication outages since the ground invasion began.

Tanks and troops crossed the border with northern Gaza on 26 October in what was described at the time as the “biggest incursion” of the conflict so far, almost three weeks after the 7 October Hamas attack.

More than 1,200 people were killed in the massacre with 240 taken hostage, Israel has said.

Hospital in northern Gaza under siege

Israeli soldiers continued searching underground levels of al Shifa Hospital in the north – the largest hospital in Gaza – on Thursday, following a raid that began early on Wednesday.

Technicians responsible for running the hospital equipment were detained, the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement.

The military released footage from inside the hospital showing three duffle bags allegedly found hidden around an MRI lab – each containing an assault riffle, grenades and Hamas uniforms.

The unverified video also showed a closet containing a number of assault rifles without ammunition clips, the military claimed.

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However, Israel has yet to produce any evidence of the central Hamas command centre that it claims is concealed under the complex.

After encircling the hospital for days, Israel is now under pressure to prove Hamas has used patients, staff and civilians sheltering there to provide cover for fighters.

The allegation – which the US says it has intelligence to support – is part of Israel’s broader claim that Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

Hamas and officials at the Hamas-run health ministry deny fighters operate in the hospital, which employs around 1,500 people and has more than 500 beds – with Palestinians and human rights groups accusing Israel of recklessly endangering civilians.

Troops ransacked the basement and other buildings, before questioning and scanning the faces of patients, staff and people sheltering in al Shifa during the raid, according to Munir al Boursh, a senior official with Gaza’s health ministry inside the hospital.

The Israeli military said soldiers were accompanied by medical teams bringing incubators and other supplies to the hospital – where the health ministry says 40 patients including three babies have died since al Shifa’s emergency generator ran out of fuel on Saturday.

Another 36 babies were at risk of death, the ministry said.

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More than 11,200 Palestinians have been killed during the conflict, two thirds of whom are women and children, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

Another 2,700 have been reported missing, with most believed to be buried under rubble.