North Gaza hospitals cut off, rescue services halted, as Israel tightens siege

An Israeli siege on three hospitals in northern Gaza has forced all rescue services to grind to a halt with a ferocious assault on the enclave showing no signs of slowing down, Gaza's civil defence said.

Gaza's civil emergency service said  Al-Awda, Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals in north Gaza were surrounded by Israeli forces, with patients trapped inside and several medical staff being disappeared.

In an urgent appeal on Wednesday night, the civil defence team said that the situation in the north had become "catastrophic" with rescue and humanitarian services forced to stop, leaving the dead and wounded in the streets with teams being unable to reach them.

Three members of the civil defence were hit by a drone in Beit Lahia in a "targeted strike", with their fate unknown. The civil defence said an Israeli tank shelled and destroyed the area's only fire truck.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday its polio vaccination campaign for children in north Gaza was forced to stop after it became too dangerous in an about-turn, after saying earlier this week that operations would continue.

Medics at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza reported that men were detained after Israeli forces stormed a school and set the building ablaze on Monday, Reuters reported.

Five members of the civil defence team were also detained in the Sheikh Zayed area and taken to an unknown location.

Footage shared on social media in recent days has shown hundreds of Palestinian men and boys being lined up, blindfolded and transported in trucks by the Israeli military.

Similar incidents have been recorded throughout the war which have sparked alarm from human rights groups.

The reports add to nearly three weeks of warnings from NGOs and humanitarian agencies, including the UN, over the fate of the thousands of residents in north Gaza after Israel launched a major air and ground assault.

At least 770 people have been killed in the 19 days since the northern offensive began, according to Gaza's government media office. More than 1,000 have been wounded in attacks with hospitals overwhelmed by the constant stream of injuries. 

The media office also said that 200 people, including women, had been "kidnapped" with their fates unknown.

Israel has said it has focused its campaign on the north to prevent Hamas from "regrouping", but ferocious attacks have seen dozens of civilians killed and injured. Its army is still launching assaults on central and southern Gaza.

Dr Mohammed Obeid from NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) working at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia said on Wednesday that the bombardment and shelling has not stopped.

"The hospital is completely overwhelmed. There are injured people everywhere, outside and inside the hospital, and we do not have medical and surgical equipment to treat them," Dr Obeid said, adding that ambulances cannot get out to reach the wounded, leaving bodies of people killed and injured in the streets.

Jabalia refugee camp has been the focus of violent Israeli attacks with shelters and apartment blocks repeatedly hit. Residents reported being too frightened to leave their homes as drones hover overhead and explosions are constantly heard. The IPC said last week that two million in Gaza are facing high levels of food insecurity.

The international community has largely failed to deter Israel from defusing the intensity of its military campaign which also stopped supplies reaching the northern population for two weeks.

Last week, the US government issued a warning to Israel to improve the aid situation in the north within 30 days, but humanitarians have said this is not enough to address the scale of devastation nor is it stopping the violence.