Hundreds of Gazans flee al-Shifa hospital

By early afternoon on Saturday up to 2,000 patients, medical staff and displaced persons had left al-Shifa hospital with only a core team remaining to care for those unable to leave, including several premature babies. Whether they were ordered out or they asked to leave is contested. Israel contends that a Hamas military command centre lay underneath the hospital. Hamas and the medical staff at the hospital have denied these claims. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has also said that there were “strong indications” that some of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were held there too. Read the best of our journalism: Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: Find us on Facebook: Find us on Twitter: Find us on Instagram: #alshifa #gaz