Israel-Palestine live: Thousands in state of panic as Israel continues to strike hospitals

The Israeli military is conducting intense, unprecedented shelling concentrated in select areas in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera and local media have reported.

Al Jazeera said the shelling is focused in the northwestern part of the Gaza Strip.

Translation: Intensive and unprecedented Israeli bombing throughout Gaza, coinciding with a cut off of communications and the internet throughout the strip

Al Jazeera said there are widespread internet and telecommunication cuts across Gaza as Israel launches unprecedentedly intense air strikes. 

The Qatar-based network said it was unable to reach some of its reporters on the ground. 

The Israeli military is conducting intense, continuous air strikes across the Gaza Strip as some people report internet outages.

Al Jazeera said it was unable to contact its local reporters and some people online said they are losing internet connection with people in Gaza. 

Israel has threatened to bomb Gaza's municipality building, a historic two-century old structure that houses the city's administrative documents and archives. 

"We received a threat via phone call from the Israeli occupation threatening the destruction of the main Gaza municipality building in Palestine Square," municipality officials said in a statement on Friday. 

"The building contains the city’s documents and archives, and implementing the occupation’s threats to bomb it would plunge the city into a state of great chaos," it added. 

"We call on all international and humanitarian organisations to intervene urgently and curb the occupation."

The Biden administration has asked Congress to fund the “potential needs of Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries”, part of a $105bn request made last week which also includes money for Israel and Ukraine.

In a 20 October letter, the Office of Budget and Management said the current crisis “could well result in displacement across border and higher regional humanitarian needs and funding may be used to meet evolving programming requirements outside of Gaza”.

For many, in light of an American push earlier this month for Egypt to open a humanitarian corridor and the reluctance of US officials to call for Israeli restraint, it suggests the White House is endorsing the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

“This is diabolical really. They should know better,” Hanan Ashrawi, a former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, told Middle East Eye.

“This is justifying ethnic cleansing. They know very well that neither Egypt will accept them, nor Jordan, nor will the Palestinians leave. So this is really encouraging Israel to continue with its genocidal plans and measures.”

You can read MEE senior investigations editor Dania Akkad's full story below. 

Read more: White House accused of endorsing Palestinian displacement in budget request

Hamas has denied the Israeli military's claims that it uses the largest hospital in Gaza as a base, and warned that Israel was attempting to justify an attack on the facility. 

On Friday, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that "terrorists move freely in Al-Shifa hospital" in Gaza City, adding that it was being used to run part of Hamas' command and control centre. 

The Palestinian group strongly denied the claims on Friday. 

"We categorically affirm the falsehood of the Israeli occupation’s story about the use of Al-Shifa Hospital for military purposes, or the presence of any Hamas leadership in it," the group said in a statement. 

"We call on the UN and Arab and Islamic countries to intervene immediately to stop the madness of bombing and destroying medical facilities," it added. 

Senior Hamas figure Izzat al-Rishq said the remarks by Israel were a "prelude" to targeting the hospital, which is currently sheltering around 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza. 

"These lies represent a prelude to committing a new massacre against our people, which will be greater than the massacre of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital," Rishq said. 

A young Palestinian has succumbed to his wounds a week after he was run over by a Palestinian security vehicle as it dispersed a protest against the Israeli bombing campaign on Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority has taken responsibility for the death of Mahmoud Rafaat Abu Laban, who was run over in central Ramallah on 17 October amid a crackdown on rallies across the occupied West Bank.

In a statement on Thursday, the PA acknowledged full responsibility for Abu Laban’s death and said that he would be officially certified as a martyr of Palestine.  

PA spokesperson Major-General Talal Dweikat added that a full investigation would be conducted into the incident. 

Read more: Palestinian protester run over by PA armoured vehicle dies

The Red Cross confirmed its first medical team since the start of the war entered Gaza on Friday. 

Images posted by the Red Cross confirmed on social media the delivery of further medical materials, war surgery kits and water purification for 50,000 litres of drinking water.

Israel and Hamas have confirmed that a clash between their forces took place on a Gaza beach in the early hours of Friday.

Israeli forces raided the southern part of the coastal enclave by sea, and local media reported that exchanges of fire were heard late on Thursday. 

Hamas' armed wing the al-Qassam Brigades said Israeli troops carried out a naval reconnaissance landing operation on the Rafah beach south of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian group claimed its fighters detected the Israeli soldiers and forced them to retreat and leave behind ammunition after an exchange of fire. 

The Israeli army said in a statement that members of the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit carried out a raid in southern Gaza and that it hit Hamas infrastructure. It added that all troops left after the operation ended. 

There were no immediate reports of casualties. 

Middle East Eye could not independently verify either version of the clash.

Qatari-mediated talks to reach a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Palestinian groups are "progressing rapidly", Al Jazeera reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

The report by the Qatar-based network comes a day after Israeli outlets said Israel would be willing to pay a "big price" for the release of some prisoners held in Gaza.

It's unclear what that price will be, but some reports speculated it could include a temporary ceasefire, the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and allowing fuel into Gaza. 

On 13 October, an Israeli warplane attacked southern Gaza in air strike that killed Hadeel Abu Al-Roos.

She died alongside her husband Basel al-Khayyat and their four children: Mahmoud, Ahmed, Celine and Eline. 

Abu Al-Roos worked as a physics teacher and Khayyat was an engineer and it’s through their work that they are remembered today, as colleagues and friends post their condolences.

Students who knew Abu Al-Roos took to Facebook to remember their late teacher’s kindness.

"My dear teacher and beloved martyr, Hadeel Abu Al-Roos, had a unique style in everything,” said one student named Sara Tamer, continuing: “She was truly exceptional. We are very grateful for your efforts and your love for us. We will miss your humour, your attitude and your cheerful way of speaking."

Another student, named Noura al-Abed, wrote: “You were not only a teacher to us.”

Read more: Family and students remember the physics teacher killed by Israel in Gaza

 At least 7,326 Palestinians, including 3,038 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday.

An additional 110 people, including 30 children, have been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

At least one rocket fired from Gaza hit a building in Tel Aviv on Friday, wounding three people, Israeli media have said.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which appeared to directly hit a residential building.

Israeli emergency services said one person was moderately wounded and two others suffered light injuries.

Protesters across different Arab and Palestinian cities took to the streets for the third consecutive Friday in solidarity with Gaza.

A demonstration took place in the Jordanian capital Amman, where crowds called for the closure of the Israeli embassy. 

Large crowds also protested in the occupied West Bank cities of Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem.

Other rallies took place in Yemen's Sanaa and Qatar's Doha. 

Israeli forces assaulted Palestinian worshippers in occupied East Jerusalem and blocked them from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to local media. 

Videos shared by Palestinian outlets showed Israeli forces guarding the entrances to the Old City and preventing people from going through.

Translation: Occupation forces attack Palestinians at the Old City checkpoints to prevent them from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Palestinian religious affairs officials in Jerusalem said only around 5,000 people attended Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque today, a significantly lower number than in normal circumstances. 

Israeli forces have heavily cracked down on Palestinians in Jerusalem since 7 October, erecting checkpoints, deploying heavily armed soldiers and arbitrarily stopping and beating young men.

Translation: Occupation forces attack residents at King Faisal Gate and prevent them from reaching Al-Aqsa.