Israel's ongoing military offense in Gaza expanded Tuesday amid attacks on an urban refugee camp and the premises of a nearby hospital in northern Gaza, where residents have been without electricity or safe water, food and other basics for weeks.
The front line of the conflict, now in its seventh week, shifted to the Jabalia refugee camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses families displaced in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.
Israel has bombarded the area for weeks, and the military alleges Hamas fighters have regrouped there and in other eastern districts after being pushed out of much of Gaza City.
Fighting has also intensified outside the nearby Indonesian Hospital, where Palestinian health officials said a strike killed 12 people Monday. They said Tuesday that hundreds of patients and displaced people are trapped inside with dwindling supplies after some 200 were evacuated the day before.
In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike killed two journalists with Al-Mayadeen TV, according to the Pan-Arab network and Lebanese officials. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has repeatedly traded fire with the Hezbollah militant group since the outbreak of the conflict.
Heavy fighting
The conflict has exacted a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, particularly those who remain in the north against Israeli demand to flee south.
It's unclear how many stayed behind, but the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees estimates that some 160,000 people are still in its shelters there, even though it is no longer able to provide services.
Some 1.7 million Palestinians, about three-fourths of Gaza's population, have fled their homes, many packing into U.N.-run schools and other facilities across the territory's south.
As shelters have overflowed, people have been forced to sleep on the streets outside, even as winter rains have pelted the coastal enclave in recent days. There are shortages of food, water and fuel for generators across all of Gaza, which has had no central electricity for over a month.
Israel continues to strike alleged Hamas targets throughout Gaza, including in the southern evacuation zone, mostly killing women and children, and officials have indicated it may soon expand its operations in the south.
Israel's military said forces are "preparing the battlefield" in the area of Jabalia, claiming they struck three tunnel shafts where fighters were hiding and destroyed rocket launchers. Footage released by the military showed Israeli soldiers patrolling on foot as gunfire echoed around them.
Residents said there had been heavy fighting as Israeli forces tried to advance under the cover of airstrikes. "The (Israeli) occupation is trying to besiege the camp," said Hamza Abu Mansour, a university student. "They are facing stiff resistance."
It was not possible to independently confirm details of the fighting.
'Catastrophic'
In the face of airstrikes and advancing Israeli troops, tens of thousands of Palestinians in the north had sheltered in hospitals, but those have steadily been emptied as the fighting reached their gates, and most are no longer operational.
The hospital situation in Gaza is "catastrophic," Michael Ryan, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official, said Monday. In the north, "it is the worst you can imagine."
Munir al-Boursh, a senior Health Ministry official who said he was inside the Indonesian Hospital, told Al-Jazeera television by phone that Israeli forces had besieged it, forcing health workers to bury 50 bodies in the courtyard. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Palestinian officials said an Israeli shell struck the hospital Monday, killing 12 people. Israel denied shelling the hospital but said its troops returned fire after being targeted from inside.
Up to 600 wounded people and some 2,000 displaced Palestinians remain stranded at the hospital, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
A similar standoff played out in recent days at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, where over 250 patients and medical workers are stranded after the evacuation of 31 premature babies.
Israel revealed alleged evidence in recent days of the presence of a Hamas member at Al-Shifa but is yet to substantiate its claims that Hamas had a major command center beneath the facility.
More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing. Their counts do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas members.
About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly during the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. The military says 68 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations.