- Israeli plan to storm Rafah prompt global concern
Israeli forces raided the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Thursday as they pressed their war on Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, that rules the enclave.
"Occupation forces detained a large number of medical staff members inside Nasser Medical Complex, which they (Israel) turned into a military base," said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra.
Hamas has denied allegations that its fighters use medical facilities for cover. At least two released Israeli hostages have said they were held in Nasser.
The Israeli incursion into the hospital has raised alarm about patients, medical workers and displaced Palestinians sheltering there.
About 10,000 people were seeking shelter at the hospital earlier this week, but many left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or because of Israeli orders to evacuate, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Further south in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3mn population are sheltering, the winter cold added to already dire conditions when wind blew away some tents of the displaced and rain flooded others.
Israel's air and ground offensive has devastated much of Gaza and forced nearly all of its inhabitants from their homes. Palestinian health authorities say 28,858 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
Israeli plans to storm Rafah have prompted international concern that such action would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the group said in a statement.
Haniyeh added that Hamas would not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and "lifting of the unjust siege," as well as a release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli jails.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that critics calling for Israel not to mount military action in Rafah were effectively telling the country to "lose the war" against Hamas.
The Israeli premier, who has vowed to "destroy" the Palestinian group, also indicated that troops would go in regardless of whether a hostage release is agreed.
"Even if we achieve it, we will enter Rafah," he told a televised news conference.
Israel has faced increasing calls, including from its closest ally the United States, to hold off sending troops into the southern Gazan city.
Talks have been held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to try to broker a pause in the fighting, while aid agencies are increasingly concerned about the lack of food, water and medicine in the Gaza Strip.
At least 83 people were killed in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since Friday, health officials said.
Residents and medics said more died as night fell on Saturday when Israeli warplanes carried several airstrikes on at least seven houses, killing and wounding dozens of people.
