Israeli army forces patients out of north Gaza hospital

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said Tuesday.The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.Munir al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops.Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital since Monday, medics said.Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on Oct. 5.Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 45,338 Palestinians and wounded 107,764 since Oct. 7, 2023, the enclave's health ministry said Tuesday.Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes on Tuesday.Later Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike killed six people in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, bringing the day's death toll to 15, medics said.A new bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the US to end the fighting has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has been reported.Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.