All ICU patients die before Israel's 1-hour deadline to evacuate al-Shifa hospital in Gaza

GAZA CITY – All injured persons admitted to the intensive care unit of Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital died due to unavailability of medical facilities as Israeli forces have besieged it for days amid ongoing war.

The development was confirmed by the director of the medical facility, saying 22 Palestinians died overnight while 55 have lost their lives in last three days.

Citing the hospital’s director, the UN health agency, WHO, said that the southern section of the compound had been damaged “including the radiology department, and the forces took several corpses from within the hospital”.  

Some 807,000 Palestinians remain in the north of the enclave, which represents about two-thirds of the population there before the latest escalation, according to OCHA. The other third of the population, about 400,000, have been likely displaced to the south.  

“Hundreds of thousands” of those left in the north now shelter in public facilities, including schools, hospitals and with host families.

Meanwhile, reports said the Israeli forces have given one hour to evacuate the medical compound.

A hospital official told Al Jazeera: “I categorically deny these false allegations [from the Israeli army] … I am telling you we were forced to leave by gunpoint.”

More than 7,000 people, including patients in critical condition and newborn babies fighting for their lives, are under treatment inside the medical facility.

The Israeli forces continue the air, sea, and on the ground attacks in Gaza, the UN’s top humanitarian official told Member States a day earlier, reporting that 41,000 houses have now been destroyed or severely damaged.

He said over 1.5 million Gazans are displaced, 18 hospitals have been closed, and hundreds of thousands are living in fear and under continuing Israeli bombardment, with causalities soaring above 12,000.