The situation inside Gaza’s two largest hospitals is worsening as Israeli forces continue their assault in the enclave. Both Al-Shifa Hospital and Al-Quds Hospital are no longer functioning because of the lack of fuel and electricity, Palestinian officials said.
Doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital are refusing a mandatory evacuation order from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), warning that about 700 patients will die if left behind, the director-general of the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said.
Israel has insisted it is justified in taking military action around the hospital, despite criticism from the UN and others. A US official with knowledge of American intelligence told CNN Hamas has a command node under the Al-Shifa hospital, uses fuel intended for the hospital and its fighters regularly cluster in and around Al-Shifa.
Hamas and hospital officials have denied the command center accusation.
Here are the key things to know:
- The largest hospital in Gaza: The director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, said the conditions in the facility are “catastrophic” as essential units collapse. Premature babies are being wrapped in foil and placed next to hot water in a desperate bid to keep them alive, the director said. The remaining fuel reserves have also dried, leaving the facility unable to function, according to Salmiya.
- The second-largest hospital: Attempts to evacuate staff and patients from Al-Quds Hospital were thwarted due to heavy fighting as the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported "intense gunfire" near the facility in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it killed a group of Hamas fighters “embedded” among civilians at the hospital after its troops were fired on from the hospital entrance. The PRCS disputed claims about “armed militants launching shells from inside Al-Quds Hospital.” It said there were “no armed individuals inside the hospital and no shots were fired from inside.”
- Updated death toll: At least 11,180 Palestinians, including 4,609 children and 3,100 women, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank. Additionally, 53 ambulances have been disabled, the ministry said.
- Rafah crossing latest: Ten buses carrying 564 foreign nationals came into Egypt from Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Monday, an Egyptian border official said. A total of 154 aid relief trucks also made their way into Gaza, loaded with essential supplies such as food, water, relief items, medical equipment, and medications, according to an Egyptian border official.
- Future aid in jeopardy: The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it has no fuel to fill its trucks in Gaza and will not be able to facilitate aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing on Tuesday. The agency had been using fuel from a strategic reservoir inside Gaza after brokering access with the IDF. But now that the reservoir is dry, negotiations to refill are currently “stalled” at the “highest level of the Israeli government,” said Thomas White, the director of UNRWA Affairs in the Gaza Strip.
- Fighting across the border: An Israeli electric worker was killed in a Hezbollah missile attack on Dovev in northern Israel, the Israel Electric Corporation said. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack with anti-tank missiles on Sunday, saying it was aimed at a military logistical team setting up communication towers. Later, the Lebanese state-run news agency said two Israeli missiles struck a convoy of media in the town of Yaroun on Monday near the border.
- Netanyahu’s latest comments: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday doubled down on Israel’s war against Hamas, vowing that Israel will see the “war to the end.” On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister refused to answer whether he would take responsibility for failing to prevent the October 7 attack on Israel, saying that there would be time for such “difficult” questions once the war is over.