Al Shifa Hospital authorities in Gaza City began to evacuate the medical center on orders from the IDF, which has surrounded the compound where Hamas is believed to have built a major underground command center, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Israeli tanks appear to be laying siege four hospitals, Al Shifa, Radisi, Al Nasr and the Indonesian.

As for Al Shifa, it came under at least one attack on Friday as Israeli forces approached the site. It is still unclear who is responsible for the attack.

About 50,000 to 60,000 people had taken refuge in and around the hospital premises, according to the Hamas Health Ministry, which adds that there are also 2,500 patients.

Civilians have gathered around the hospital, hoping to escape the shelling that is pounding the rest of Gaza City.

The Israeli soldiersthey will kill“Hamas fighters”that shoot through the hospitals” of Gaza, warned today a representative of the Israeli armed forces, after the strikes on several medical institutions, earlier today.

“If we see Hamas terrorists shooting through hospitals, we will do the right thing (…) we will kill them» Richard Hecht told reporters.

Al Shifa Hospital has less than 24 hours of fuel to remain operational, Dr. Ashraf al-Kudra, spokesman for the Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza, told the BBC at noon.

He said the area around Al Shifa – the largest in Gaza – he has received up to five hits today, causing damage to the maternity ward and other parts of the complex. The number of casualties has not been independently confirmed, but the BBC points out that videos, the validity of which has been verified, showed a projectile hitting the hospital courtyard and appearing to seriously injure at least one person.

“If Al Shifa Hospital goes out of business, it will be a disaster for the residents of Gaza City,” warned Dr. Kundra, adding that staff are afraid.

There were reports of at least one death in Al Shifa from an Israeli strike on Friday. The Hamas government claims there have been 13. The doctor said he knows of one death but cannot confirm any others. He also stated that dozens of people were injured.

The Israeli military says Hamas is using the Al Shifa hospital for cover and operates from tunnels under the building complex.

Testimony of the BBC envoy

“I am outside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, just a few hundred meters away from Israeli tanks approaching from the north and south. The area is subject to occasional Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling and gunfire.

I can hear the sounds of explosions and shelling, and I have seen corpses being brought here in vehicles and carts drawn by horses and donkeys.

Inside this hospital are tens of thousands of wounded, many of whom are still in critical condition due to the serious injuries they have sustained. They cannot leave the hospital because of their injuries.

Many in the hospital are there to stay with their loved ones, even in such dire circumstances.

There is a shortage of fuel and medicine and the Israeli tanks are getting closer and closer.

Thousands have left this hospital to go to places they consider a little safer. However, there is no real sense of security here in Gaza.”

Reports that IDF hit school and hospital killing at least 50

For his part, the manager of Al Shifa Hospital, of the largest in the Gaza Strip, he said in the afternoon that about 50 bodies they have been transferred there after the bombing, in the morning, of a hospital in Gaza Citys, where many displaced persons are accommodated.

Earlier, speaking to the Reuters agency, Mohammad Abu Selmeya spoke of at least 20 dead from an Israeli strike on Al Buraq school.

The press office of the Hamas government announced that “several (Israeli) tanks) have taken up positions within 200 meters from Al Burak school, on Al Nasr road and surround four hospitals in the area.”

One person was killed and 19 others were wounded by fire from Israeli forces at Al-Quds hospital in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The non-profit organization spoke of Israeli snipers who are shelling the hospital in Gaza City, adding that “the clashes are violent.”

The Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced today how 11,078 people have been killed in Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.

Among the dead recorded to date, 4,506 were children and 3,027 women, the Ministry of Health said. Besides, 27,490 people were injured.

The Hamas Health Ministry also reported that 21 hospitals have stopped operating and 47 health centers are not providing services.