Kamal Adwan hospital chief: 'Next to impossible' to get patients out safely

Israel has ordered the closure and evacuation of one of the last hospitals partly functioning in besieged northern Gaza.

The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, Husam Abu Safiya, told Reuters that it was "next to impossible" to get patients and wounded people out to safety.

"We currently have nearly 400 civilians inside the hospital, including babies in the neonatal unit, whose lives depend on oxygen and incubators. We cannot evacuate these patients safely without assistance, equipment, and time," said Abu Safiya.

"We are sending this message under heavy bombardment and direct targeting of the fuel tanks, which if hit will cause a large explosion and mass casualties of the civilians inside."

Abu Safiya said the Israeli military had ordered patients and staff to be evacuated to another hospital where conditions are even worse. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Elsewhere, Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 24 Palestinians. Eight of them, including some children, were killed at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City.

At least 12 Palestinians were killed in air strikes in Rafah and Khan Younis south of the enclave, and Nusseirat and Bureij in the central Gaza Strip.