Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 25 people, including 15 people in a single house in Gaza City, medics and the civil emergency service said.

The Palestinian health ministry said contact with staff inside the hospital in Beit Lahiya, which has been under heavy pressure from Israeli forces for weeks, had been lost.

"The occupation forces are inside the hospital now and they are burning it," Ministry Director Munir Al-Bursh said in a statement.

The Israeli military said it had tried to limit harm to civilians and had "facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients and medical personnel prior to the operation", but gave no details.

In a statement, it said fighters from the Palestinian Hamas group, which previously controlled the Gaza Strip, had operated from the hospital throughout the war.

Youssef Abu El-Rish, the Hamas-appointed deputy health minister, said Israeli forces had set fire to the surgical department and laboratory and a storehouse.

Like the Indonesian and Al-Awda hospitals, Kamal Adwan has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces who have been attacking the northern edge of the Gaza Strip for weeks, Palestinian medical staff say.


--Reuters--