Israel-Hamas War: Fighting in Gaza City Raises Fears for Hospitals

He said that Israeli forces generally do not fire on hospitals, but added, “if we see Hamas terrorists firing from hospitals, we’ll do what we need to do.” He also said that Israeli troops were “closing in” on Hamas in northern Gaza.

Tanks had surrounded two adjacent hospitals in the city, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesman for the health ministry of Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. He said that scores of patients and displaced Gazans were trapped inside them. The situation could not be immediately confirmed, though the Israeli military has made clear that its troops are fighting in the heart of Gaza City.

Israel has ordered hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate along with residents in the area, and has maintained that Hamas hides military operations within hospitals, and in tunnels underneath them, using civilians as human shields. Israel has struck sites including apartment buildings, mosques and markets, calling them legitimate targets used by Hamas’s military wing.

At least one projectile struck inside the complex of Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, early Friday, though the source and extent of the damage were not immediately clear. The Israeli military said that the projectile that hit the hospital complex was fired by Palestinian militants at Israeli troops. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of the hospital, said the hospital compound was struck four times on Friday, blaming Israel for the strikes.

Videos verified by The New York Times showed what appeared to be a projectile flying into the hospital’s courtyard and striking an area where displaced Gazans were resting overnight. The screams of people could be immediately heard. One man was filmed lying on the ground in pain, with his leg apparently mangled. Dr. Abu Salmiya said that four strikes had landed in various parts of the hospital complex, including the maternity building and the outpatient clinic, killing seven people on Friday.

He said that operation rooms and intensive care units were at full capacity and that frustrated doctors and nurses had been forced to leave dozens of seriously wounded people.

“If conditions were better than this, we could have saved their lives,” Dr. Abu Salmiya said. From the hospital, he said, armed clashes and powerful explosions could be heard.

Hospitals have been caught in the crossfire in the war, and strikes have damaged medical centers and clinics across the coastal enclave. Many displaced Gazans flooded into hospitals and schools, hoping for safety from the relentless, devastating bombing.

Doctors at Al-Shifa have faced dire conditions, treating a growing number of patients even as medical supplies and fuel needed to power generators have dwindled.

“At this point, there’s just so little we can do for the wounded we receive, only the bare minimum,” said Dr. Abu Salmiya. “There are people who need complex operations, but we can’t provide them, because we simply don’t have the capacity or the medication.”

The Israeli military has repeatedly singled out Al-Shifa in statements in recent weeks, saying that the hospital gives cover to a Hamas military compound. The Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, told reporters last month that Hamas “does its command and control in different departments of the hospital.”

Hamas officials and Al Shifa administrators have denied the accusations. Dr. Abu Salmiya said international organizations were welcome to investigate the site and see if they could find any evidence of Hamas’s presence there.

Inside Al-Shifa itself, staff members were preparing for the worst, including a potential Israeli ground raid into the hospital, Dr. Abu Salmiya said. They have no immediate plans to totally evacuate the complex, he added.

“We will stay with our patients,” he said.