Israeli troops intensify fighting close to Shifa Hospital, where Hamas HQ is said to be

Intense battle continued Sunday between troops of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and gunmen in and around Gaza City as military moves closer to Shafia hospital.

Israel forces say Hamas’ main headquarters are situated close to Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Visuals from the area showed heavy fighting in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital, with loud and persistent sounds of gunfire and explosions.

With heavy fighting underway, thousands of people have been trapped in Gaza’s hospitals, with medics and aid workers warning patients will die in the crippled facilities unless there is a pause in the battle.

Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the biggest in the territory, is “totally surrounded and bombardments are going on nearby”, said the hospital’s director, Mohammad Abu Salmiya.

“The medical team cannot work and the bodies, in their dozens, cannot be managed or buried,” he said.

“If we do not stop this bloodshed immediately with a ceasefire or at the bare minimum a medical evacuation of patients, these hospitals will become a morgue,” medical aid group Doctors Without Borders warned Sunday.

Health officials further said thousands of medics, patients and displaced people are trapped in the area surrounding Shifa Hospital, with no electricity and dwindling supplies.

The IDF has said it will help to evacuate babies from the hospital in the coming hours.

In the recent weeks, Israel has presented evidence that Hamas’ main command center is located underneath Shifa and accused the terror group of using the hospital and its occupants — with 1,500 beds and some 4,000 staff — as human shields for the elaborate bunkers and tunnels beneath it.

Israel has also said Hamas has stockpiles of fuel and supplies that it is keeping from an increasingly desperate civilian population.

With inputs from agencies