Al-Shifa hospital – Gaza’s biggest – has become the focus of the Israel-Hamas war, now entering its seventh week after the Oct 7 attacks on southern Israel.

Israel claims Hamas operates a base underneath Al-Shifa, a charge the Palestinian group denies.

The United Nations estimated that 2,300 patients, staff, and displaced Palestinians were sheltering at Al-Shifa before Israeli troops moved in on Wednesday.

The Hamas health ministry in Gaza has announced dozens of deaths there as a result of power cuts caused by fuel shortages amid intense combat.

Israel has made repeated calls for the hospital to be evacuated to the south. However, medical professionals say the patients cannot be moved.

Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya told AFP that Israeli troops instructed him to ensure “the evacuation of patients, wounded, the displaced, and medical staff and that they should move on foot towards the seafront”.