Mass Exodus from Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital as Scores Feared Dead at UN Shelter

On Saturday, numerous people, including patients, left the main hospital in Gaza City. Some medical staff claimed they were told to evacuate, while Israel disputes this. As gunfire echoed in the background, many people were observed walking through streets filled with rubble. Additionally, Hamas health officials reported that two explosions in the northern area of Jabalia resulted in the deaths of 80 individuals. Israel stated that it could not confirm hitting a UN school that had been converted into a shelter, but it is currently investigating the matter. BBC Verify has geolocated footage to al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia, which depicts numerous injured individuals, including women and children, either severely wounded or motionless on the floor throughout different parts of the building. The footage features over 20 casualties, approximately half of them concentrated in one room on the ground floor, which shows significant damage. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), expressed his horror after witnessing images and footage of numerous killed and injured people in one of the agency's schools that was harboring displaced individuals. Lazzarini stressed the urgency to halt these attacks. Separately, the Hamas-run health ministry claimed that a separate Israeli airstrike resulted in more than 30 members of the same family being killed in Jabalia. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not initially respond to this report but did mention that it was expanding operations in Gaza, including targeting Hamas in Jabalia. According to the Hamas health ministry, the death toll in Gaza has reached 12,300, with an additional 2,000 individuals feared to be trapped under debris. At al-Shifa hospital, a journalist informed the BBC that only patients who were unable to move and a small number of doctors remained. The journalist recounted the terrifying sounds of explosions and gunfire throughout the night, as bulldozers demolished parts of the hospital grounds and buildings. Earlier, the Hamas-run health ministry stated that 120 patients and an unspecified number of premature babies were still at the hospital. The IDF denied ordering the evacuation of al-Shifa and asserted that it had agreed to a request from the hospital's director to facilitate the evacuation of individuals through a secure route. Dr. Ramez Radwan, a doctor who claimed he was ordered to leave al-Shifa by Israeli authorities, described the hospital's conditions as miserable, with a lack of painkillers, antibiotics, and patients exhibiting wound infections. Israel's military has recently raided the hospital as part of a targeted operation against Hamas but has yet to provide substantial evidence of the group conducting a major operation beneath it. To ensure their safety, Palestinians residing in the northern region of Gaza have been advised to leave, and the same advice has been extended to people in the southern city of Khan Younis, where many who fled from the north have sought refuge.