Two Gazan patients died during Israeli siege on hospital - ministry

Gaza's health ministry said two patients at a hospital in the territory's north died during a siege by Israeli forces around the facility on Saturday, while Israel's military reported its troops were operating in the area.

Since dawn, Israeli forces had surrounded and shelled the Indonesian Hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia, Gaza health officials said.

"Israeli tanks have completely surrounded the hospital, cut off electricity and shelled the hospital, targeting the second and third floors with artillery," the facility's director Marwan Sultan said.

"There are serious risks to medical staff and patients."

Later on Saturday, the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory said two patients in the hospital had died, blaming the Israeli military siege.

It said the military operation caused "the death of two patients inside the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, as a result of the hospital's siege and the power outage and (lack of) medical supplies".

The ministry did not provide details about the two patients, their illnesses or the exact cause of their deaths.

It also accused the Israeli military of imposing a siege on hospitals across northern Gaza since midnight.

- 'State of great panic' -

In an earlier statement, the ministry said Israel had targeted the upper floors of the Indonesian Hospital, adding there were "more than 40 patients and wounded in addition to the medical staff" present.

"Heavy gunfire" towards the hospital and its courtyard had sparked a "state of great panic" among patients and staff, it added.

When asked for a response to the ministry's allegation that the two patients had died due to the military siege, the Israeli army told AFP that its troops were "operating near the Indonesian Hospital".

"The troops operating in the area have been trained for the operational activity and briefed on the importance of mitigating harm to civilians and medical infrastructure," the military said in a statement.

"It is emphasised that the hospital continues to operate without disruption and in full capacity, and there was no intentional fire directed at it."

Israeli forces launched a new offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month, saying it was targeting Hamas fighters who were regrouping there.

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike the night before killed 33 people in Jabalia, which is near the Indonesian Hospital.

The UN humanitarian affairs agency on Friday continued "to sound the alarm about the increasingly dire and dangerous situation that civilians in northern Gaza are facing. Families there are trying to survive in atrocious conditions, under heavy bombardment."

Indonesian Hospital was also damaged during Israeli shelling in October 2023, residents told AFP at the time.

Israel has come under strong international criticism for targeting hospitals in Gaza, which it has repeatedly accused of being used by Hamas militants for military purposes.