GAZA: Israeli forces have entered Gaza’s largest hospital, saying they’re targeting a Hamas command centre they allege is located below thousands of ailing and sheltering civilians.

Youssef Abul Reesh, an official from the Gaza health ministry who is inside the hospital, told AFP he could see tanks inside the complex and “dozens of soldiers and commandos inside the emergency and reception buildings”.

After sharp warnings from the United States that Al-Shifa hospital “must be protected”, Israel insisted the raid was being executed based on intelligence and “an operational necessity”.

Witnesses have described conditions as horrific, with medical procedures taking place without anaesthetic, families with scant food or water living in corridors, and the stench of decomposing corpses filling the air.

“There are bodies littered in the hospital complex and there is no longer electricity at the morgues,” said hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya.

The Israel Defense Forces has said it had given hospital authorities in Hamas-run Gaza 12 hours’ notice that any military operation inside must cease.

“Unfortunately, it did not,” the Israeli military said, again calling on “all Hamas terrorists present in the hospital to surrender”.

Israeli army ground teams were said to include medics and Arabic speakers “who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment”. The “intent” was that “no harm is caused to the civilians being used by Hamas as human shields”, the Israeli military claimed.

Abul Reesh, from Gaza’s health ministry, called on “the international community and the United Nations to intervene immediately and urgently to stop the Israeli storming operation.”

He urged both to protect what he said were “20,000 people inside the hospital including medical staff and 650 ailing people and thousands of injured people.”