Tel Aviv [Israel], November 12: Palestinian officials said two babies had died and dozens more were at risk after fuel ran out at Gaza's largest hospital on Saturday, while Israel said it was ready to evacuate babies from the facility.
As the humanitarian situation worsened, Gaza's border authority announced that the Rafah land crossing into Egypt would reopen on Sunday for foreign passport holders after being closed on Friday.
Amid continued fighting, Hamas said it had completely or partially destroyed more than 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza, including more than 25 vehicles in the past 48 hours.
But an Israeli military spokesperson said Hamas had lost control of northern Gaza.
The Israeli military will help evacuate babies trapped in Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.
Israel said earlier that doctors, patients and thousands of evacuees who have taken refuge at hospitals in northern Gaza must leave so it can tackle Hamas gunmen who it says have placed command centres under and around them.
Hamas denies using hospitals in this way. Medical staff say patients could die if they are moved and Palestinian officials say Israeli fire makes it dangerous for others to leave.
Most of the hospital staff and people sheltering at the hospital had left, he said, but 500 patients were still there.
The Israeli military denied endangering the hospital.
A Palestinian health ministry spokesman said Israeli shelling had killed a patient in intensive care.
Ashraf Al-Qidra, who represents the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, said Israeli army snipers on the rooftops of buildings near the hospital fired into the medical complex from time to time, limiting people's ability to move.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
