By Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and David Rising — The Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday pushed back against growing calls from his Western allies to protect Palestinian civilians as his troops surrounded Gaza's largest hospital, where five people — including a premature baby — died after the last generator ran out of fuel, doctors said.
Israel claims that the Shifa hospital is Hamas' main command post where the insurgents use civilians there as human shields and who have set up shop in elaborate underground bunkers. In recent days, fighting near this and other hospitals in northern Gaza has intensified as supplies run out.
"There's no electricity. Medical teams have stopped. Patients, especially those in intensive care, started dying," Mohammed Abu Selmia, the center's director, said in a telephone conversation in which the sound of gunfire and explosions could be heard in the background.
According to Abu Selmia, Israeli soldiers were "shooting at anyone inside or outside the hospital" and preventing people from moving from one building to another in the compound.
The claim that Israeli troops were the sole source of the gunfire could not be independently verified.
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Asked about reports that soldiers were opening fire in the courtyard of the hospital, Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said his forces were "in the midst of intense fighting against Hamas in the vicinity of the area in question." The army is taking all possible measures to avoid affecting civilians, he added.
Five patients died after the generator went out, including a premature baby, said Medhat Abbas, spokesman for the Gaza Strip's health ministry. In Shifa, it had treated a total of 37 premature babies, he said.
Netanyahu said responsibility for the harm to civilians lies with Hamas, repeating his accusations that the insurgent group uses Gazans as human shields. While Israel has urged people to evacuate the combat zones, "Hamas is doing everything possible to prevent them from leaving," he added.
The statement came after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a ceasefire and urged other leaders to join his call. Speaking to the BBC, he said there was "no justification" for the Israeli bombings.
In the aftermath of Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which left at least 1,200 people dead, Israeli allies had defended the country's right to defend itself. But now that the war has entered its second month, there are growing differences over how many believe Israel should implement its campaign.
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The U.S. has been pushing for temporary pauses to allow for greater distribution of humanitarian aid to civilians in the besieged territory, where conditions are increasingly desperate.
But Israel has agreed only to make brief daily pauses during which civilians can leave the combat zones in the north of the strip and leave on foot south through the main artery linking the two ends of the enclave.
Since the announcement of these evacuation pauses a week ago, more than 150,000 civilians have fled the north, according to United Nations observers. But tens of thousands remain in the area, many of them sheltering in hospitals and overcrowded U.N. facilities.
Palestinian civilians and human rights advocates have disputed Israel's claim about the "relative safety" of evacuation zones, noting that aircraft continue to bomb all of Gaza, including the south, where the army says they target Hamas leaders but have also claimed the lives of women and children.
The U.S. and Israel also differ on what postwar Gaza should look like. Netanyahu and military leaders have said this should be determined based on the country's security needs to ensure no threats emerge from the territory. Israel says its goal with the war is to crush Hamas, the insurgent group that has ruled the territory for 16 years.
In a press briefing during his Asia tour, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday laid out what he called the fundamental principles for a postwar Gaza, some of which appeared to run counter to the Israeli approach.
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Blinken said the principles include "no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no use of Gaza as a platform to launch terrorist or other attacks against Israel, no reduction of Gaza's territory, and a commitment to a Palestinian-led government for Gaza and the West Bank, and in a unified manner."
Saudi Arabia, for its part, brought together Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh on Saturday with the aim of devising its own unified strategy on Gaza.
Fighting near hospitals
Concern has grown in recent days as fighting in Gaza City neighborhoods has moved closer to hospitals, which Israel says are being used by Hamas members.
Palestinians said Saturday that Israeli troops could be seen from the Shifa hospital, the enclave's largest. Israel maintains that the insurgent group's main command center is underneath the hospital compound, something that has been denied by both Hamas and Shifa staff.
Thousands of civilians had taken refuge in the center in recent weeks, but many fled on Friday after several attacks nearby that killed one person and wounded several others.
[Blinken vows to do 'everything possible' to rescue Hamas hostages, but also made requests]
Speaking to Al Jazeera television, Abbas, the health ministry spokesman, said there were still 1,500 patients, 1,500 health workers and 15,000 to 20,000 refugees in Shifa.
"The compound lacks food, water and electricity," he said. "Intensive care units have stopped working."
Abdallah Nasser, who lives near Shifa, said by telephone that the Israeli army was entering the city from the south and north.
"They're facing stiff resistance, but they're moving forward," he said.
Mohammed al-Masri, who is among the thousands of people sheltering in the hospital, said he could see Israeli soldiers approaching from the west from a top floor. "They're here ... They are visible," he said.
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Thousands have left Shifa and other hospitals under attack, but doctors say it is impossible to evacuate everyone.
"We can't evacuate and (leave) these people inside," Mohammed Obeid, a surgeon with Médecins Sans Frontières in Shifa, was quoted as saying by the NGO.
"As a doctor, I vowed to help people in need," he added.
The organization said other doctors reported that some staff fled to safety with their families and asked for protection for all hospitals.
Casualties on the rise
More than 11,070 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas and does not differentiate between civilians and militants. Around 2,700 more people have been reported missing and are believed to be trapped or dead under the rubble.
Gaza's Interior Ministry, also controlled by the insurgent group, said six people were killed Saturday in an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp that hit a house. The camp is in the southern evacuation zone.
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At least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly in the initial Hamas attack, and 41 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground offensive, according to Israeli officials. The Foreign Ministry had estimated the civilian death toll at 1,400 and on Friday revised the figure without explaining why.
An Israeli official told The Associated Press that it was modified after a painstaking weeks-long process to identify the bodies, many of them mutilated or burned during the Hamas attack. The figure could still change, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no formal announcement.
Nearly 240 people kidnapped by Hamas in Israel remain in captivity.
Some 250,000 Israelis have been forced to evict communities near Gaza and along the northern border with Lebanon, where Israeli forces and militants from the Lebanese group Hezbollah have repeatedly exchanged fire.