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Israeli forces close in on al-Shifa Hospital, trapping thousands | Gaza News<\/p>\n
Thousands of people are holed up in Gaza\u2019s largest hospital, which Israel claims is a Hamas command centre.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Israel\u2019s military has closed in on the front gates of Gaza\u2019s biggest hospital, where thousands of injured and displaced people are trapped amid intensive Israeli bombardment.<\/p>\n Israeli forces had fully encircled the al-Shifa Hospital as of early on Saturday morning, preventing ambulances from entering or leaving the facility, where medical supplies and food are running low.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are attacking and destroying the front gates of the main medical complex in the Gaza Strip as patients and thousands of Palestinians are still residing inside the yard of this hospital,\u201d Al Jazeera\u2019s Tareq Abu Azzoum said.<\/p>\n \u201cThose people are really trapped right now by Israeli forces who are stationed in different sectors encircling the entire place. They are no longer able to move ambulances to bring victims and wounded people from the areas targeted. People are trapped and they lack food.\u201d<\/p>\n Abu Azzoum said that Israeli snipers and artillery were also targeting anyone moving outside the hospital.<\/p>\n Al-Shifa director Muhammad Abu Salmiya described the area around the hospital as a \u201cbattlefield\u201d, but said the hospital\u2019s staff have pledged to stay with patients until the \u201clast moment\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not leave, because we know if we leave the hospital, dozens of patients will die,\u201d Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n The escalating bombardment comes after an Israeli strike on the al-Shifa Hospital early on Friday killed at least 13 people and wounded several others, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-governed enclave.<\/p>\n Health officials said later on Friday that Israeli tanks were closing in on at least four hospitals in northern Gaza from all directions.<\/p>\n As fighting escalated on Friday night, Marwan Jilani, director general of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, condemned Israel for attacking hospitals at the UN Security Council in New York.<\/p>\n \u201cDisplaced people at the hospitals are getting shot at as we speak,\u201d Jilani said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are asking, \u2018What can we do? Where can we go?\u2019 Thousands of innocent lives are under imminent threat.\u201d<\/p>\n World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed his concerns, saying he was \u201cextremely disturbed\u201d by the situation at the al-Shifa Hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the thousands sheltering at the hospital are forced to evacuate due to security risks, while many still remain there,\u201d he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n \u201cWHO is very concerned about the safety of patients, health workers and those sheltering in hospitals. They need immediate protection.\u201d<\/p>\n We are extremely disturbed by reports of airstrikes in the vicinity of Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza<\/a>. Many health workers we were in contact with have been forced to leave the hospital in search of safety. Others report being unable to move due to grave insecurity. Many of the\u2026<\/p>\n\n