Israel faced growing calls Saturday to protect civilians in Gaza as its battle with Hamas encircled the territory's main hospital, where an aid agency described the situation as "catastrophic", reports BSS.
Thunder-like sound of explosions rang through the night in heavy fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces near Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, AFP correspondents at the scene said.
The Hamas government and the hospital's director said a strike on the key health facility on Friday killed 13 people. They accused Israel of being responsible -- a claim that was impossible to verify.
"We call on all international and Arab parties to immediately intervene to stop the targeting of hospitals in Gaza," said a spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, Ahsraf Al-Qudra.
Aid agency Doctors Without Borders said it was "extremely concerned" about the safety of patients and medical staff at Al-Shifa hospital.
"Over the last few hours, the attacks against Al-Shifa Hospital have dramatically intensified," it said in a statement posted online on Saturday morning.
"Our staff at the hospital have reported a catastrophic situation inside just a few hours ago."
Maher Sharif, a nurse heading to the Al-Shifa hospital when it was struck on Friday, described how people threw themselves to the ground.
"I saw dead bodies, including women and children," she said, according to a statement by Doctors Without Borders.
Gaza resident Hanane told AFP his daughter was being treated at Al-Shifa after being wounded as she queued outside a bakery. She "starts shaking" with each explosion, he said.
Many people have taken refuge in the hospital grounds. AFP journalists saw people in beds lined up along a corridor. Some cooked meals with gas cannister stoves and ate while sitting on the floor.
Twenty of Gaza's 36 hospitals are "no longer functioning", the UN's humanitarian agency said.
Israel has denied targeting hospitals and its army has accused Hamas of using the medical facilities as command centres and hideouts, a charge the Palestinian militant group denies.
Israeli forces would "kill" Hamas militants if they saw them "firing from hospitals", however, military spokesman Richard Hecht said.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
