Late afternoon update

Good afternoon,

It’s 5:30 PM in Gaza, and here is your latest update as Israel continues its ground invasion into the Palestinian enclave.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Israeli forces called Palestinian health officials, warning that they intended to raid the Al Shifa hospital “within minutes” after besieging Gaza’s largest medical complex.

Since then, doctors from the Al Shifa hospital have told Middle East Eye that Israeli forces have turned the hospital into a “war zone.” 

Dr Ahmed Mokhallalati said the situation inside the hospital is "bad" as thousands of people seeking refugee inside continue to hear explosions.

"The Israeli army told everyone to move away from the windows because they shoot them,” Mokhallalati told MEE via the phone on Wednesday morning, nearly eight hours after the first Israeli soldiers broke into the hospital.

UNRWA chief Philip Lazzarini has also said his operation in Gaza is on the verge of complete collapse after several weeks of Israeli bombardment. 

Gaza’s sewage system has failed after rain struck the enclave, leading to sewage flooding parts of the besieged territory as people struggle to access clean water and risk dehydration. 

Outside of Gaza, Qatar said it was attempting to negotiate a deal on Wednesday between Hamas and Israel to release 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for a three-day ceasefire. 

One official who spoke to Reuters said Hamas had agreed to the deal, but Israel has not. 

Later this evening, Britain’s MPs will vote on whether the UK will endorse an emergency ceasefire in Gaza. The Scottish National Party has put forward an amendment to the King's Speech, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. These calls for a ceasefire, however, are dividing members of the opposition Labour Party.