Israeli forces besieged two more Gaza hospitals today, pinning down medical teams under heavy gunfire, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, as Israel said it had captured 480 militants in continued clashes at Gaza's main Al Shifa hospital.
Israel claims hospitals in the Palestinian enclave, where war has been raging for over five months, are used by Hamas militants as bases. It has released videos and pictures supporting the claim.
Hamas and medical staff deny the accusations.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said one of its staff was killed when Israeli tanks suddenly pushed back into areas around Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, amid heavy bombardment and gunfire.
Israeli forces began operating around Al-Amal, the military said, following "precise intelligence ... which indicated that terrorists are using civilian infrastructure for terror activities in the area of Al-Amal."
Israeli armoured forces sealed off Al-Amal Hospital and carried out extensive bulldozing operations in its vicinity, the Red Crescent said in a statement.
"All of our teams are in extreme danger at the moment and are completely immobilised," it said.
The Red Crescent said Israeli forces were now demanding the complete evacuation of staff, patients and displaced people from Al Amal's premises and were firing smoke bombs into the area to force out its occupants.
A displaced Palestinian was killed inside the hospital compound after being hit in the head by Israeli fire, the Red Crescent said in a later update.
The health ministry in Gaza said dozens of patients and medical staffers had been detained by Israeli forces at Al Shifa in Gaza City in the enclave's north that has been under Israeli control for a week.
Gaza's government media office said Israeli forces had killed five Palestinian doctors during their seven-day-old attack on Al Shifa.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that report.
It claimed earlier that it had killed over 170 gunmen in the raid, which the Palestinian Health Ministry said had also caused the deaths of five patients.
Al Shifa is one of the few healthcare facilities even partially operational in north Gaza, and - like others - had also been housing some of the nearly 2 million civilians - over 80% of Gaza's population - displaced by the war.
Airstrike kills seven in Rafah
Reuters has been unable to access Gaza's contested hospital areas and verify accounts by either side.
Khan Younis residents said Israeli forces had also advanced and formed a cordon around Nasser Hospital in the city's west under cover of heavy air and ground fire.
In Rafah, Gaza's southernmost town on the Egyptian border that has become the last refuge for half of Gaza's uprooted population, an Israeli air strike on a house killed seven people, health officials said.
At least 32,226 Palestinians have been killed, among them 84 in the past 24 hours, and 74,518 injured in Israel's air and ground offensive into the densely populated coastal territory since 7 October, its health ministry said in an update today.
Israel launched the offensive after Hamas-led militants attacked its south on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
US-backed mediation by Qatar and Egypt has so far failed to secure a Hamas-Israel ceasefire, prisoner releases and unfettered aid to Gaza civilians facing famine, with each side sticking to core demands.
Hamas wants any truce deal to include an Israeli commitment to end the war and withdraw forces from Gaza. Israel has ruled this out, saying it will keep fighting until Hamas is eradicated as a political and military force.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the backlog of aid destined for Gaza as a moral outrage during a visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing yesterday.
Speaking in Cairo today, Mr Guterres said the only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs was by road.
The US and other countries have tried using air drops and ships to deliver aid, but UN aid officials say deliveries can only be scaled up by land, accusing Israel of impeding relief, which Israel denies.
US-Israel tensions
Tensions have grown between Israel and its traditional top ally the US, which has called for greater efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
The main flashpoint is Israel's plan to push its ground invasion into Rafah city on the Egyptian border, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are living, mostly in overcrowded shelters.
The US has made clear it would not support an Israeli attack on Rafah without a plan to protect civilians there.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that "a major ground operation there would mean more civilian deaths, it would worsen the humanitarian crisis".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that "we have no way to defeat Hamas without getting into Rafah and eliminating the battalions that are left there".
Mr Netanyahu added he had told Mr Blinken that "I hope to do that with the support of the United States, but if we need to, we will do it alone".
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was to head to Washington today to discuss the war with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other senior US defence officials.
