Patients evacuated as Israel hits Gaza hospital

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israel struck a hospital in northern Gaza early Sunday, forcing patients to evacuate as attacks intensified across the Strip.

The predawn strike hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, after Israel issued an evacuation warning, according to Gaza's ministry of health. One patient died during the evacuation because medical staff were unable to provide urgent care, it said.

Hours later, a separate strike on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed at least seven people, according to staff at the morgue of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

Israel said it struck a command and control center used by Hamas at the hospital to plan and execute attacks against Israelis.

The strikes came hours after Israel's defense minister said that military activity would rapidly expand across Gaza and that people would have to evacuate from "fighting zones".

Israel also announced on Saturday the completion of the Morag Corridor, cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, with the military saying it would soon expand "vigorously" in most of the small coastal territory.

Israeli authorities have vowed to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.

Director of Al-Ahli Hospital, Fadel Naim, said they were warned of the attack before it was struck. In a post on X, he wrote that the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings were severely damaged, impacting more than 100 patients and dozens of medical staff.

Hamas said on Saturday that it is positive about any Gaza ceasefire proposal that guarantees a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Hamas said that such a proposal must also ensure an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people and include a serious prisoner exchange deal.

A Hamas delegation headed to Cairo on Saturday at the invitation of Egypt to meet with mediators from Qatar and Egypt, as part of ongoing efforts to reach an agreement and halt Israeli attacks in Gaza, it added.

The US military carried out 10 airstrikes across northern Yemen late Saturday night, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

Yemen's Houthi group said in a statement on Friday that it launched fresh drone attacks at the city of Tel Aviv in central Israel.

AGENCIES-XINHUA