Palestinian evacuees fleeing Gaza’s northern combat zone said thousands of displaced people who had sheltered at Shifa Hospital in the heart of Gaza City have fled following overnight explosions there.
The hospital had sheltered nearly 80,000 people running from heavy ground battles and airstrikes.
Some of those fleeing Friday said only a few hundred badly wounded patients and doctors remained behind. Doctors at Shifa Hospital could not immediately be reached for comment because of phone and internet connectivity disruptions.
Thousands of Palestinians streamed onto Gaza’s only highway Friday, fleeing the combat zone in the north after Israel announced a window for safe passage, as officials in the enclave said the Palestinian death toll surpassed 11,000 people.
Amid an intensifying campaign of airstrikes and ground battles in Gaza City, the search for safety in the besieged enclave has grown increasingly desperate. Tens of thousands have walked south, where they face the prospect of ongoing bombardment and dire conditions. Others have crowded into and around hospitals, sleeping in operating rooms and wards.
Gaza medical officials accused Israel of striking near hospitals on Friday, though Israel said at least one was the result of a misfired Palestinian rocket.
Source: AP
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