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Israeli forces dropped leaflets warning Palestinians to flee parts of southern Gaza, residents said on Thursday, signalling a possible expansion of attacks in areas where hundreds of thousands of people who heeded earlier evacuation orders are crowded into UN-run shelters and family homes.
Meanwhile, soldiers continued searching Al-Shifa Hospital in the north, in a raid that began early on Wednesday but has failed to uncover any evidence of the central Hamas command centre that Israel has alleged is concealed beneath the complex.
Hamas and staff at the hospital, Gaza's largest, have strongly denied the allegations amid a deadly Israeli siege and attacks on the hospital which have killed dozens of patients, including premature babies, and caused global outrage.
Broadening the offensive in the south – where Israel already carries out daily air raids as part of its indiscriminate war on Gaza – threatens to worsen an already severe humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
Over 1.5 million people have been internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, with most having fled to the south, where food, water and electricity are increasingly scarce.
Israel's war has killed 11,470 people in the strip, two-thirds of them women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities. Over 3,640 civilians have been reported missing.
Israeli troops on Wednesday stormed into Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, where newborns and hundreds of other patients have suffered for days without electricity and other basic necessities.
Troops were searching the underground levels of the hospital on Thursday and detained technicians responsible for running its equipment, the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement.
After encircling Al-Shifa for days, Israel faced pressure to prove its claim that Hamas was using the patients, staff and civilians sheltering there to provide cover for its fighters.
The Israeli military released video from inside Al-Shifa which showed three duffel bags it claimed was found hidden around an MRI lab, each containing an assault rifle, grenades and Hamas uniforms, as well as a closet that contained a number of assault rifles without ammunition clips. It was not possible to independently verify the Israeli claims that the weapons were found inside the hospital.
There was no evidence provided to back up Israel's claim of a Hamas headquarters beneath the hospital.
Featured images: Getty