DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — One of Gaza's last functioning hospitals has been emptying out in recent days as Israel has ordered the evacuation of nearby areas and signaled a possible ground operation in a town that has been largely spared throughout the war, officials said Monday. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main hospital serving central Gaza. The Israeli military has not ordered its evacuation, but patients and people sheltering there fear that it may be engulfed in fighting or become the target of a raid.
Also on Monday, Israeli strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis killed at least 12 people, according to local officials, and fighting between Israel and Hezbollah resumed across the Lebanon border . Israeli forces have invaded several hospitals in Gaza over the course of the 10-month-old war , accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials. Israeli evacuation orders now cover around 84% of Gaza's territory , according to the United Nations, which estimates that around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.
3 million have been forced from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people have packed into swollen tent camps along the coast where there are few if any public services.
Associated Press reporters saw people fleeing the hospital and surrounding areas on Monday, many of them on foot. Some could be seen pushing patients on stretchers or carrying sick chil.