Israeli army besieges hospital in N. Gaza: sources

The Israeli army besieged a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, said Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses on Sunday.

Local sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that the Israeli forces surrounded Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, the only hospital providing orthopedic, gynecological and obstetrics services in the northern enclave.

The sources said that the Israeli forces prevented residents and medical teams in the area from entering or leaving the hospital, causing difficulty in providing treatment services.

Israel on Saturday continued its attack on Jabalia in northern Gaza, accused Hamas of "trying to rebuild its capabilities" in the area, vowing to take countermeasures in the region.

In addition, the Gaza health authorities warned of an acute shortage of medicines and medical consumables necessary to provide medical services like emergency operations and primary care.

It said in a brief statement that some medicines have run out in hospitals and service places, calling on UN and international institutions to work to provide medicines in light of the continued Israeli "aggression" and occupation of all Gaza Strip crossings.

Meanwhile, the Hamas media office accused in a press statement the Israeli army of preventing the entry of approximately 3,000 aid trucks and 690 wounded and sick people from traveling to receive treatment in hospitals outside the Gaza Strip.

The office said that the Israeli army prevented the entry of food aid and medical supplies, the entry of fuel to hospitals, and the travel of the wounded and sick after occupying the Rafah crossing and closing the Kerem Shalom crossing for the 13th day in a row, which worsen the deep humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

On May 5, the Israeli army closed Kerem Shalom, the only commercial crossing with Gaza, in response to a Hamas-claimed missile attack on a military point near the crossing that killed four soldiers.

On May 7, the Israeli army announced the imposition of "operational" control over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, located in the southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, after launching an operation in the eastern region of Rafah.

Several international organizations have warned of the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip following the closing of Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.