Witnesses at Nasser Hospital, where thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from the fighting, told AFP that shots were fired at the sprawling complex in the southern city of Khan Younis, but no raid was as yet taking place.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli troops were shooting and firing “shells and (conducting) violent raids in its surroundings in preparation for its storming”.

“Thousands of displaced people are still inside the hospital,” the ministry said. “They do not have sufficient quantities of drinking water, food and infant formula, and their lives are in danger.”

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

For the past nine days, Israeli troops have been involved in heavy fighting in and around Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory’s biggest. They claim to have killed 170 Palestinian fighters there and arrested hundreds of others.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Tuesday that Al-Amal Hospital, near Nasser in Khan Younis, was “out of service” after Israeli forces evacuated it and blocked the entrance.

The medical organisation said in a statement that “the international community failed to provide the necessary protection” for staff, patients and displaced Gazans sheltering at Al-Amal.

The Red Crescent said one patient and one of its volunteers were killed Sunday by Israeli fire.

The Israeli military, which on Monday reported killing about 20 fighters around Al-Amal Hospital, did not comment on the Red Crescent’s statement.