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Bodies littered at Gaza hospital as patients buried in mass grave

Israeli forces are at the gates of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza they say sits atop an underground Hamas command base, but Hamas deny the charge and doctors say thousands are stranded inside in horrific conditions.

AA

The UN believes more than 10,000 people may be inside and unable to escape because of fierce fighting nearby [AA]

Gaza's main hospital has been forced to bury scores of dead patients in a mass grave, its director said, as US President Joe Biden pressed Israel to protect the complex trapped in fierce combat.

"There are bodies littered in the hospital complex and there is no longer electricity at the morgues," said Al Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiyah, adding that 179 bodies had been interred so far.

"We were forced to bury them in a mass grave," he said, adding that seven babies and 29 intensive care patients were among those who had died after fuel for the hospital's generator ran out.

A witness said the smell of decomposing bodies was everywhere in the facility, but nighttime fighting and air strikes had been less intense compared to previous nights.

Reuters

People are assisted at Al Shifa Hospital in Palestine's Gaza.

The United Nations believes that thousands, and perhaps more than 10,000 people - patients, staff and displaced civilians - may be inside and unable to escape because of fierce fighting nearby.

Israel says it is not targeting the hospital, but has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the attacks of October 7, which killed an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians and resulted in 240 hostages being taken to Gaza.

The Health Ministry in Gaza has said that Israel's relentless assault has killed 11,240 people, mostly civilians, including thousands of children.

Israel's military said 47 of its troops have been killed in Gaza.

What's it like to be a parent in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 3,600 children so far?

'Hospital must be protected'

Biden called on Israel to use "less intrusive action relative to the hospital", some of his most pointed comments on Israeli operations to date.

"The hospital must be protected," he told reporters, as international outrage builds over the death and suffering the war has inflicted on Gaza civilians.

Israel's aggressive response has sparked protests around the world, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in the Middle East, Europe and beyond.

International aid agencies speak of hundreds of thousands of people displaced and a rolling humanitarian catastrophe.