Casualties overwhelm Gaza hospital as Israel targets refugee camp

The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza has become the main functional medical facility in the northern half of the Palestinian enclave as Israel's military deepened its offensive on Gaza City and forced the closure of many hospitals and clinics in the area.

Dozens of patients were being treated at the hospital after the main medical facility in Gaza City was closed, hospital director Marawan al-Sultan said on Tuesday.

"The situation is catastrophic and does not bode well," he said, adding patients were at risk due to scarcity of fuel needed to operate electrical generators.

He said the hospital received 80 patients and wounded from the al-Ahly hospital in the eastern part of Gaza City which was closed amid intense fighting between Israel and Hamas fighters.

Israeli bombardment of Bureij in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed at least 4 children and left four others wounded, hospital authorities said.

The bodies were taken to the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

An Associated Press journalist saw the bodies of four children in the hospital morgue.

Egypt and Qatar have been working with the United States to broker a cease-fire and end the devastating nine-month war between Hamas and Israel.

Israeli troops were again battling militants in areas that the army said had been largely cleared months ago in northern Gaza.

The military ordered evacuations ahead of the raids, but Palestinians said nowhere feels safe.

The war has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.