In Khan Younis, three of the few hospitals that remain open reported heavy fighting on Tuesday.
Raed al-Nems, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, said a shell had hit the fourth floor of al-Amal Hospital, killing one civilian and wounding 10 others.
He said that the hospital was not able to dispatch ambulances or medical teams because of the fighting, while Reuters reported that Israeli forces were using drones to fire on anyone who moved nearby.
At Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in the city, footage filmed by Palestinian journalist Hamdan El-Dahdouh showed gunfire hitting the top of the main building.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said that “Israeli tanks are firing heavily on the upper floors of the specialized surgery building and the emergency building of Nasser Hospital, dozens expected wounded.”
Reuters reported that staff were cremating bodies inside the hospital grounds because it was unsafe to go out to the cemetery.
A spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Ashraf Al-Qudra, also said that Israeli troops had stormed Al-Khair Hospital and detained the medical staff.
According to the Associated Press, Al-Khair Hospital is located inside the safe zone at Muwasi, where the Israel Defense Forces said it would not conduct military operations.
Israel did not immediately comment on the reports. Hospitals are protected under international law, but Israel has accused Hamas, sometimes without evidence, of conducting military operations from or beneath them . The US, the EU, Germany and others consider Hamas to be a terrorist group.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations’ agency for Palestinians, called on all parties to protect “civilians, medical facilities and personnel.”
“Terrified staff, patients and displaced people are now trapped inside the few remaining hospitals in Khan Younis as heavy fighting continues,” the UNRWA chief said on social media.
