The largest hospital in Gaza has ceased to function and fatalities among patients are rising, the head of the World Health Organisation says, as a fierce Israeli assault continues in the Hamas-controlled strip. Hospitals in the north of the Palestinian enclave, including the al-Shifa complex, are blockaded by Israeli forces and barely able to care for those inside. Three newborns are dead and more are at risk from power outages amid intense fighting nearby, according to medical staff.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the strip's second largest hospital, al-Quds, was also out of service, with staff struggling to care for those already there with little medicine, food and water. "Al-Quds hospital has been cut off from the world in the last six to seven days. No way in, no way out," said Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.