Siege Of Gaza City Traps Thousands In Hospitalls

Thousands of people sheltering in hospitals in Khan Younis are trapped by Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip's second-largest city as a delegation from Hamas is in Egypt for the latest round of talks aimed at another ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

- Bethan McKernan

The Israeli army said yesterday it had "encircled" the city after two days of heavy fighting, in what Israeli officials have described as the last large ground assault in the three-month war before a shift to "lower intensity" operations aimed at eradicating the Palestinian militant group. By yesterday morning, fierce battles had reached Khan Younis's three main hospitals - al-Aqsa, Nasser and al-Amal - making it difficult for civilians to flee, according to Ocha, the UN humanitarian agency.

A building at a training centre in the city run by the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, where about 800 people had sought shelter, was hit by tank shelling yesterday, according to the agency's director, who said on social media that nine people had been killed and 75 injured, with medical teams unable to access the building. About 88,000 Palestinians live in Khan Younis, which is also hosting an estimated 425,000 people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the strip. About 18,000 people were believed to be sheltering in the grounds of Nasser hospital alone, Ocha said, along with 850 patients.

"No one can enter or exit [Nasser] due to ongoing bombardments," the agency added, citing medics who also reported staff were digging graves in the hospital grounds"due to the large numbers of fatalities anticipated".